Readiness of Teachers of General Education Institutions to Perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

RELEVANCE The problem of sudden cardiac arrest and sudden death among the students of educational institutions is highly relevant for the Russian Federation. In order to plan interventions aimed at improving effectiveness of management and reducing mortality from cardiac arrest in educational institutions, a clear understanding of level of readiness and motivation of teachers to provide help to a cardiac arrest victim is necessary.  

AIM OF STUDY To evaluate willingness of teachers of general education institutions to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in cases of cardiac arrest, and to investigate factors and relationships that determine readiness of teachers to give help.  

MATERIAL AND METHODS In February–March 2021, an online questionnaire survey of teaching staff of general education institutions was conducted in the Republic of Crimea. As part of the survey, respondents were asked to evaluate their willingness to attempt CPR on a loved one, a stranger or a pupil on a five-point Likert scale, and to indicate potential barriers for performing CPR. The survey was voluntary and anonymous.  

RESULTS The questionnaire was completed by 5,921 teachers. Of all respondents, 9.2% were males, 31.6% — aged over 50 years, 32.3% — work in urban areas. The proportion of teachers who expressed absolute willingness to perform CPR on a loved one, a stranger or a pupil was 63.6% (n=3,766), 34.8% (2,058) and 41.0% (2,427), respectively. At the same time, 13.6% (804), 31.0% (1,836) and 30.6% (1,809), respectively, indicated that they would probably not or definitely not attempt CPR. A high readiness to perform resuscitation (4–5 points) was confirmed to be associated with previous CPR training (p<0.001) and with higher level of CPR knowledge (p≤0.006). The main barriers to providing resuscitation were “lack of CPR knowledge and skills” (indicated by 31.4–36.3% of the respondents depending on the type of presumed cardiac arrest victim) and “fear of causing harm to a victim” (49.2–51.4%).  

CONCLUSION Considerable portion of teachers of general education institutions demonstrate low level of readiness to provide life-saving help in case of cardiac arrest. Lack of CPR knowledge and skills constitute the main barrier to attempting resuscitation. In order to improve survival from cardiac arrest in educational institutions, comprehensive organisational interventions are required, which should primarily focus on ensuring full coverage of teachers with high-quality training and retraining in resuscitation. 

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