Evaluation of Greek High School Teachers' Knowledge in Basic Life Support, Automated External Defibrillation, and Foreign Body Airway Obstruction: Implications for Nursing Interventions

Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate the theoretic knowledge of high school teachers regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillation, and foreign body airway obstruction. Methods Three hundred ten respondents were tested prospectively by use of a scoring system. Data were obtained by use of a questionnaire that included 24 questions. Data were collected between April 9 and June 16, 2009. Results Only 21.03% of the teachers had ever participated in life support courses, and most of them did not possess adequate theoretic knowledge in the management of adult cardiac arrest or foreign body airway obstruction. As the age of the teachers increases, the ratio of correct answers decreases. Life support course attendance has a positive effect on their theoretic knowledge. The majority of the teachers would welcome an emergency nurse to educate them and their students on basic life support and foreign body airway obstruction. Discussion This study shows that most of the respondents had a mediocre level of knowledge in basic life support, automated external defibrillation, and foreign body airway obstruction. Given that emergency nurses regularly practice resuscitation in the emergency department in which they are working, they have the motivation to be kept updated with the current guidelines on resuscitation, because guidelines on resuscitation are revised every 5 years. Teachers, on the other hand, are less motivated to be kept updated; thus emergency nurses may be the key component in educating teachers and school students. Therefore we believe that emergency nurses should take on the responsibility and act as school educators regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation.