Awareness Of Basic Life Support (Bls) Among Doctors, Nurses, Interns And Medical Students In A Medical College

Objectives: Basic life support (BLS) is a life saving procedure and adequate knowledge and skills related to BLS are essential for all health professionals. This study was undertaken to evaluate the awareness and knowledge of Basic Life Support (BLS) among doctors, nurses, interns and medical students in a medical college. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted by using responses to a questionnaire regarding BLS by 131 responders. Out of all the responders, 59 were nurses, 41 were doctors, 13 were interns and 18 were medical students. The results were analyzed with SPSS version 20. Results: The data was collected from 131 responders. The score ranged from 2 to 10 with mean score of 6.4±1.7. Most of the responders knew what BLS stands for. The knowledge regarding the sequential steps in BLS was poor among them. Only 60.3 % of them knew the correct rate of chest compression during adult CPR and only 58 % responders correctly answered the chest compression depth in adult CPR. The knowledge regarding compression-ventilation ratio was satisfactory. But only 55 % of responders knew the full form of AED and 61.8 % knew what EMS stands for. Among all, 65 respondrs (49.6 %) scored 60% or less. The steps of CPR and the components of high quality CPR were the areas in which their knowledge was poor. These are the areas which are the most important for effective BLS. Conclusion: Knowledge of BLS among doctors, nurses, interns and medical students in this medical college is not satisfactory and needs to be improved. Awareness level on the most important aspects of BLS is not satisfactory indicating the importance of professional training at all levels in the medical college. Most of the responders did not have any training or courses regarding BLS. We suggest that inclusion of a BLS course and frequent workshops would increase awareness and application of this valuable life-saving skill.