To assess knowledge and awareness of basic life support among final year medical students in tertiary care teaching centre: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Successfulcardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) relies upon the information and aptitudes of basic life support (BLS). Knowledge of basic life support is needed for budding medical students as they will encounter such situation on a daily basis. The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of basic life support (BLS) among undergraduate final year students.A descriptive, cross-sectional study was led in a tertiary care medical college from July 2019 to August 2019. The study participants were final year MBBS students. 100 final year students were given questionnaire about basic life support according to the guidelines laid down by the American Heart Association Guidelines for BLS. The outcome variables knowledge and awareness were analysed in terms of frequencies and percentages. (yes/no). IBM SPSS version 22 was used for statistical analysis.Self-grading of BLS knowledge level was assessed and the results showed that 62(62%) had average knowledge and 38(38%) had poor knowledge. In Self-assessment question, the reason for lack of BLS knowledge was, 7(7%) due to busy curriculum, 7(7%) lack of interest, 65(65%) non-availability of training and 21(21%) responded as combination of all three factors. Awareness and knowledge about basic life support (BLS) is certainly required for medical care experts as they experience such circumstance consistently, and will help them a long way in saving lives. Proper training and workshops are mandatory on BLS/CPR in our undergraduate medical curriculum.