The evaluation of laypersons awareness of basic life support at the university in Izmir

Melek Pehlivan; Neşe Can Mercan; İbrahim Çınar; Ferhan Elmali; Mustafa Soyöz

doi:10.1016/j.tjem.2018.11.002

Melek Pehlivan¹, Neşe Can Mercan¹, İbrahim Çınar¹, Ferhan Elmali², Mustafa Soyöz³

¹Vocational School of Health Services, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Turkey
²Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Turkey
³Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Izmir, Turkey

Keywords: Basic life support, Basic life support awareness, Cardiac arrest, Automated external defibrillator

Abstract

Objectives: Basic Life Support (BLS) is the application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in order to save the lives of cardiac arrest victims by members of the public pending the arrival of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training in order to ensure society understands the importance of early initiation of BLS, and to provide information concerning BLS and automated external defibrillators (AED).

Methods: This study consisted of 150 participants, of whom none were healthcare professionals. The research data were collected from 150 pre-tests and 100 post-tests. A Comparison of nominal data was analyzed by both McNemar's test and Pearson's chi-square exact test.

Results: Of the participants, 39% had received the BLS training prior to the study. It was observed that the participants’ desire for applying BLS increased from 43% to 78% post training, and the ratio of ability to distinguish the need for BLS increased from 54% to 79%. Our results also indicated that the knowledge level of the CPR application increased after the study. The proportion of participants who knew the purpose of using AED increased from 79.8% to 95.7%.

Conclusions: It was concluded that the BLS Awareness training increased in relation to the application of BLS, improved the BLS knowledge and increased awareness of the use of AED.