1344 Results Participants with any profession within health care were ex- cluded from the analysis. The questionnaire was not offered in trainings for special groups such as in schools or nursing homes. 2 Mean values were compared using paired t-tests while v - sta- tistics were used for proportions of nominal data. In 38 ﬁrst aid training courses 532 participants (86.6% of 614 subjects attending the training) completed the questionnaire before and after training, 53.6% of those were male, mean age was 28.6 years (+/) 11.1 y, range 15–61 y). Before training 28.4% of all participants stated a correct description of stroke, another 32.7% gave at least the brain as the location of the disease. The mean number of stroke symptoms named was 1.52 (± 1.1), descriptions listed were mainly ‘‘weakness’’, ‘‘motor problems’’ ‘‘disturbance of consciousness’’ or ‘‘speech problems’’, 12.8% of all respondents did not list at least one correct stroke symptom or warning sign, 40.7% listed symptoms that are not typically suggestive of stroke (coded as incorrect). The mean number of ﬁrst aid measures named was 1.22 (± 1.0). 78.7% of respondents stated that they had any kind of information about stroke before the training. After the stroke lesson 69.9% of the participants stated a correct description of stroke, and 20.3% gave at least the brain as the location of the disease. Now the mean number of stroke symptoms named was 3.35 (± 1.4). 58.5 % declared that in case of stroke urgent treatment is needed . See table 1 for an over- view of key results. Most participants were satisﬁed with the stroke lesson as the mean value in the score (1 = best to 6 = worst) was 1.76 (± 0.6), interest in topics of stroke was rated high (mean 1.56, ± 0,8). Stroke was regarded as an important topic for ﬁrst aid training. (mean 1.57, ± 0,9). The difference in mean number of symptoms named before and after the lesson was Table 1 Key results from the ques- tionnaire before and after receiving the stroke lesson n = 532 mean number no. of stroke signs no. of first measures % of participants correct explanation what stroke means brain affected organ no/incorrect explanation > 4 symptoms listed no symptom listed ‘‘immediate medical help required’’ prior information about stroke 1.52 1.22 28.4 32.7 38.9 2.6 12.8 not asked 78.7 highly signiﬁcant (p < 0.001), as well as the difference in percentage of participants giving a correct deﬁni- tion of stroke (p < 0.001) and those naming more than 4 symptoms. In contrast the number of partici- pants not listing at least one symptom and giving none or an incorrect deﬁnition of stroke was signiﬁ- cantly reduced after the training. Discussion To our knowledge this is the ﬁrst study published reporting about ﬁrst aid training for public education on stroke. A teaching session was integrated in reg- ular ﬁrst aid training offered to the public by the St John Ambulance. From data of this pilot study the teaching session was very effective: Mean number of stroke symptoms and number of participants giving a correct descrip- tion of stroke more than doubled. The difference in number of symptoms and por- tion of participants describing stroke symptoms cor- rectly was highly signiﬁcant. Nevertheless with a mean delay between teaching and retention test below 10 days these results show only the short-term effect and durability of the information remains unclear. From other studies in teaching medical skills to lay- people we know that knowledge is reduced by about 25% over the ﬁrst three months and may remain stable thereafter [9]. One year may be critical period for repetition of training [10]. However, participants showed also a high grade of satisfaction with the lesson and its presentation, and ranked importance of stroke as a topic quite high. As a consequence of these results the lesson is now integrated in every ﬁrst aid training of the St. John Ambulance in Bavaria. Before this study there was no clear cut concept existing for ﬁrst action in acute stroke. Despite the fact that calling EMS accelerates admission [11] the effect of all these actions performed by medical laypersons on stroke progression or outcome is not yet proven. before stroke lesson after stroke lesson 3.35 not asked 69.9 20.3 9.8 28.4 3.6 58.5 p < 0.001 p < 0.001 p < 0.01 p < 0.01 p < 0.001 p < 0.001