Background: Basic Life Support (BLS) seeks to preserve respiration and circulation in cardiac arrest victims, emphasizing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while utilizing minimal supplementary equipment. As per new Curriculum based medical education guidelines by National Medical Commission, foundation course for the Undergraduate has been started since 2019, in which skill component include 180 minutes for Basic Life Support. However, this much is not sufficient to learn about BLS and CPR. The elevated standards of care need that knowledge of BLS/CPR be updated and encompass both laypersons and medical professionals who may serve as educators in this skill.
Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of MBBS Phase – 1 medical students about Basic Life Support (BLS).
Methods: This health education related descriptive, cross-sectional study was done by department of Physiology, among Phase 1 MBBS students of CIMS Chhindwara, MP, India, after institutional ethics committee approval. A Pre designed, pre-validated, self-reported questionnaire forms consisted of two sections were used for assessing the knowledge and attitude of MBBS students. Knowledge component assessment questionnaire form included questions related to steps of BLS, components of CPR and their details, sequence of CPR steps to follow, general awareness about examining pulse, respiration, etc. Attitude component assessment questionnaire form included questions related to CPR performed, willingness to learn BLS, willingness to teach BLS to family members, opinion on adding BLS training in medical and paramedical courses, etc. Data was entered in excel sheet. Means and proportions were calculated for quantitative & qualitative data respectively. Suitable statistical analysis done depending on the distribution of data.
Results: Total number of sample size was 99 Phase 1 MBBS students. 98.99% of participants had poor knowledge, 1.01% of participants had average knowledge and none of the participant had good knowledge regarding Basic Life Support. Present study revealed a positive attitude of students towards BLS. Of the participants, 92.93% students have not done CPR before and 94% students feel that their knowledge about BLS is insufficient. 90.9% students think that all health care workers should be trained in BLS and 93.94% are likely to attend BLS training in workshop with hands on practice under supervision.
Conclusion: The Study highlights that the knowledge of MBBS phase 1 students regarding BLS was not satisfactory. A significant portion of students do not acquire adequate knowledge in a single session of training in present curriculum. There is need to include frequent BLS training at regular intervals in medical curriculum of first year MBBS students. Progression of knowledge can also be done by inclusion of different teaching methods.