Awareness of basic life support and emergency medical services among health care students and professionals in the Medical University - Saudi Arabia

Background: After road traffic accidents, cardiovascular diseases make the most common cause of mortality worldwide. Immediate care like Basic life support (BLS) increases the chance of survival in such cases. Hence there is an acute need for everyone, especially health care students and professionals should have adequate knowledge of emergency procedures like BLS. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the awareness and knowledge of basic life support among health care students and professionals in the Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional prospective survey-based-on-questionnaire with 20 questions was conducted at Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The completed questionnaires (150/200) were assessed for correctness of answers and thereby awareness and knowledge of basic life support among health care students and professionals of the university. Results: Out of 150 respondents, 120 (80%) were students and 30 (20%) professionals. Among 120 students, 55 respondents (45.83%) were medical students, 45 (37.5%) were dental students, 15 (12.5%) were pharmacy students, five (4.16%) were allied health science students. Among 30 professionals, ten (33.33%) were doctors, and 20 (66.67%) were pharmacists. Among 150 total respondents, 95 ( 63.33%) had previously been into BLS training and 45 (36.67%) had not. To the most of the questions, the awareness of students was average. Conclusion: Awareness about basic life support is compulsory among health care professionals as they come across such situations regularly and they can save many lives.