Awareness about basic life support and emergency medical services and its associated factors among students in a tertiary care hospital in South India.

BACKGROUND

The knowledge and skills about the basic life support (BLS) and the advanced life support are the most important determining factors of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) success rates.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the level of awareness on BLS and skills among undergraduate and postgraduate students of medical and dental profession, as well as nursing students and interns in a tertiary care hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in South India. The awareness level on BLS and factors associated which include age, sex, level of training (undergraduate, internship, and postgraduate groups), course of study (nursing, dental, and medical groups), and previous exposure to BLS were assessed by using a structured questionnaire. The association of these variables with awareness level was assessed by independent t test, analysis of variance, and linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

Among 520 study subjects, 229 were students, 171 were interns, and 120 were postgraduate students. The overall mean score of awareness was 4.16 ± 1.40 (score range: 0-10). Age, sex, level of training, course of study, and previous exposure to BLS were significantly associated with awareness level in univariate analysis (P < 0.05). Linear regression model also showed that all the above variables were significantly associated with awareness level (P < 0.05). About 322 (61.9%) subjects attributed lack of awareness about BLS to lack of available professional training. About 479 (92.1%) responded that BLS training should be a part of medical curriculum.

CONCLUSION

Awareness level on BLS is below average indicating the importance of professional training at all levels in a tertiary care health institution.