Knowledge of 2015 basic life support (BLS) guidelines among doctors and nursing staff of a rural based tertiary care hospital, in western India: Current status and requirement

Background & Aim: The chances of return of spontaneous circulation and survival to hospital discharge increase after cardiac arrest with high quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In the era of evidence based medicine and as a requirement of National accreditation board for Hospitals and healthcare providers (NABH), basic life support (BLS) should be practiced as per latest guidelines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of recent BLS guidelines with emphasis on high quality chest compressions, among doctors and nursing staff of our center. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Western India. The awareness about recent guidelines of American heart association (AHA), BLS, and factors associated which include profession, age, gender, current primary posting, previous BLS training and updated with Highlights of 2015 was assessed by using a MCQ based questionnaire. Statistical Analysis: The descriptive analysis was run to find the proportions of various parameters and Chi-square test was applied to find association between different qualitative variables. Significant result was considered at 5% level of significance. Results: Among 213 participants, 92 were doctors and 121 were nursing staff. Only 10.3% had acceptable score (>16 correct answers out of 20 MCQs). Relation between acceptable score and responders having updated with 2015 guidelines and previous BLS training was found to be statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Knowledge about BLS is very poor among health care providers in a tertiary care hospital.