Knowledge and Attitudes about Basic Life Support among Secondary School Teachers in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the strong evidence that basic life support including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival rates after cardiac events, the awareness and training among citizens of Saudi Arabia is low. The study objective was to determine the current level of knowledge and CPR-skills among secondary school teachers. The second objective was to assess their attitudes and willingness to participate in regular CPR training.

METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the secondary schools in Al-Qassim region in 2015. Thirty of 99 schools were randomly selected; ten teachers from each school were enrolled. Teachers completed the questionnaire. T-tests were used to examine whether participants with either previous CPR training or previous resuscitation experiences had higher scores on the skills test than those without training or experience.

RESULTS: The study included 305 teachers (80% Saudi nationality); 75.4% were males and 66.5% were between the ages of 31 and 50. Among the teachers, 35.7% had completed CPR training previously; but overall, CPR knowledge and skills were low (mean =4.0, sd = 1.62). In fact, the average scores did not differ between those who had training and those who did not. The majority of teachers wanted more training (64.9%) and were willing to take a free course (78.4%).

CONCLUSION: In Al-Qassim, secondary school teachers lack CPR training and hence have little knowledge or skills. Teachers are willing and desire to have more CPR training available to them. Should health officials provide future training, teachers could serve the community better.