Ballesteros-Peña S, Fernández-Aedo I, Pérez-Urdiales I, García-Azpiazu Z, Unanue-Arza S
Departamento de Enfermería I, Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería, Universidad del País Vasco, Leioa, Vizcaya, España; Servicio de Urgencias Generales, Hospital Universitario de Basurto, Bilbao, Vizcaya, España.
Departamento de Enfermería I, Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería, Universidad del País Vasco, Leioa, Vizcaya, España.
Med Intensiva. 2016 Mar;40(2):75-83. doi: 10.1016/j.medin.2015.10.004. Epub 2015 Nov 29.
To explore the training, ability and attitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automatic defibrillators among the population of the Basque Country (Spain).
A face-to-face survey.
Capital cities of the Basque Country.
A total of 605 people between 15-64 years of age were randomly selected.
Information about the knowledge, perceptions and self-perceived ability to identify and assist cardiopulmonary arrest was requested.
A total of 56.4% of the responders were women, 61.8% were occupationally active, and 48.3% had higher education. Thirty-seven percent of the responders claimed to be trained in resuscitation techniques, but only 20.2% considered themselves able to apply such techniques. Public servants were almost 4 times more likely of being trained in defibrillation compared to the rest of workers (OR 3.7; P<.001), while people with elementary studies or no studies were almost 3 times more likely of not being trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, in comparison with the rest (OR 2.7; P=.001). A total of 94.7% of the responders considered it "quite or very important" for the general population to be able to apply resuscitation, though 55% considered themselves unable to identify an eye witnessed cardiac arrest, and 40.3% would not recognize a public-access defibrillator.
Citizens of the Basque Country consider the early identification and treatment of cardiorespiratory arrest victims to be important, though their knowledge in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation is limited.
