Abstract
To evaluate the knowledge of basic life support (BLS) among students and health providers in Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Allied Health Science Colleges at Qassim University. A cross sectional study was performed using an online BLS survey that was completed by 139 individuals. Ninety-three responders were medical students, 7 were medical interns, 6 were dental students, 7 were pharmacy students, 11 were medical science students and 15 were clinical practitioners. No responder scored 100% on the BLS survey. Only two out of the 139 responders (1.4%) scored 90-99%. Both of these individuals were fifth year medical students. Six responders (4.3%) scored 80-89%. Of these, 5 were fifth year medical students, and one was fourth-year medical student. Eleven responders (7.9%) scored 70-79%. Of these, eight were fifth year medical students, two were medical interns and one was a pharmacist. Twenty-three responders (16.5%) scored 60-69%. Of these, 11 were fifth year medical students, 1 was a fourth-year medical student, 3 were medical interns, 2 were medical science students, 1 was a dentistry student, and 5 were pharmacists. Twenty-eight responders (20.1%) scored 50-59%. Of these, 11 were fifth year medical students, 3 were fourth-year medical students, 1 was a third-year medical student, 1 was a second-year medical student, 2 were first-year medical students, 1 was a pharmacy student, 3 were dental students, 1 was a allied health science student, 2 were doctors, and 3 were pharmacists. The remaining 69 responders (49.6%) scored less than 50%. Knowledge of BLS among medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and allied health science students and health providers at Qassim University is poor and needs to be improved. We suggest that inclusion of a BLS course in the undergraduate curriculum with regular reassessment would increase awareness and application of this valuable life-saving skill set.
Highlights
We conducted this study among students and health providers in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and allied health science colleges at Qassim University to evaluate their knowledge of Basic life support (BLS)
A cross-sectional prospective surveybased-on-questionnaire was conducted at Qassim University, Buraidah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The results of our study showed that clinical practitioners had better BLS knowledge than students, their knowledge was not complete. (xvi) This result supports a similar study conducted in 2010 in India, (13) and may reflect the fact that clinical practitioners are more experienced than students and have undergone reassessments of their BLS knowledge
Summary
Basic life support (BLS) includes recognition of signs of sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke, and foreign body airway obstruction, and the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation with an automated external defibrillator. (i) Cardiac arrests and accidents are the most common type of emergencies with grave consequences, but simple maneuvers and skills can improve the outcome, and immediate CPR can double or triple the chances of survival. (ii,iii) The majority of patients who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest do not receive adequate resuscitation by health care professionals within the critical time, 3–5 min after onset, reducing the chance of survival. (iv) The chance of successful resuscitation after sudden cardiac arrest decreases by 7–10% with every minute that resuscitation is delayed. (v) Early delivery of a shock with a defibrillator (CPR, plus defibrillation) within 3–5 min of collapse can result in survival rate of 49–75%. (vi,vii)Knowledge of BLS and practice of simple CPR techniques increase the chances of survival of the patient until experienced medical help arrives and, in most cases, is sufficient for survival in itself. (viii) It is important that those who may be present at the scene of a cardiac arrest, lay bystanders, have knowledge of appropriate resuscitation skills and the ability to put these into practice. (ix) Even if they have poor initial knowledge, medical students are able to transfer CPR skills to others after they have been taught. (x) it is crucial that everyone in the medical field has knowledge of BLS. (xi) In the wider community there is an expectation that competence in CPR and BLS is at a high standard in all hospital medical and nursing staff. (xii) But little is known about the same in health care students and professionals in Saudi Arabia. (i) Cardiac arrests and accidents are the most common type of emergencies with grave consequences, but simple maneuvers and skills can improve the outcome, and immediate CPR can double or triple the chances of survival. (ii,iii) The majority of patients who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest do not receive adequate resuscitation by health care professionals within the critical time, 3–5 min after onset, reducing the chance of survival. Knowledge of BLS and practice of simple CPR techniques increase the chances of survival of the patient until experienced medical help arrives and, in most cases, is sufficient for survival in itself. (viii) It is important that those who may be present at the scene of a cardiac arrest, lay bystanders, have knowledge of appropriate resuscitation skills and the ability to put these into practice. We conducted this study among students and health providers in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and allied health science colleges at Qassim University to evaluate their knowledge of BLS
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