Knowledge and attitude of basic life support (BLS) among school teachers in Hebron, Palestine

摘要

Background: Patients in all settings fully expect that they will be resuscitated if they have a cardiac arrest. It is therefore necessary to increase the number of qualified people, including school teachers and students who can play a vital role in performing basic and advanced cardiac life support at the scene of a medical emergency. Since life threatening events, such as cardiac arrest, must be responded to within six minutes, the retention of skills becomes a key concern in all urgent cases. The purpose of this study was to assess the existing knowledge of BLS among primary and secondary school teachers in Hebron, Palestine. Methods: After approval from Institute Ethical Committee and informed consent from the participant, the present study was conducted among primary and secondary school teachers. A self-administered questionnaire based on knowledge and attitude of BLS was used to collect data. Results: In general, only 42.5%of school teachers knew about CPR, but 57.5% had no previous information about CPR. Sources of information about CPR included television (26.5%), nurses and Drs (25.8), and the Internet (18.7%). Approximately 53% agreed that CPR training courses should be mandatory. Only 18.1% of teachers didn’t know the contact numbers for emergency services. Conclusions: This study has highlighted a critical issue that a majority of school teachers have limited knowledge about CPR. We recommend the mandatory implementation of CPR and basic life-support training for all school teachers across Palestine, and the need for incorporation of the BLS teaching into the Palestinian schools’ curricula without delay.