Knowledge, practice, and attitude of basic life support among schoolteachers in Saudi Arabia

Basic life support (BLS) is the critical lifesaving skill delivered in a case of cardiac arrest or respiratory depression. However, its awareness and practice among schoolteachers, often first responders in schools, remain underexplored. In Saudi Arabia, there is a growing recognition for the need for BLS training in educational institutions to ensure the safety of students and staff. The Saudi Ministry of Education is dedicated to ensuring every school has a safe environment and has set an objective to minimize school accidents.

A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted to assess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of BLS, among schoolteachers. Inclusion criteria were active teachers in any type of non-specialized schools (Governmental, Private, and International) in Saudi Arabia, aged 23 years or older.

The study comprised 587 participants, of which were 84 males (14.3%) and 503 females (85.7%). The age distribution revealed that the majority were aged 41-50 years (48.9%). A significant proportion, 89.4%, were employed in governmental schools, and 77.2% held a bachelor's degree.

The study revealed that schoolteachers in Saudi Arabia demonstrated inadequate knowledge of BLS, with 88.8% classified as having poor or very poor knowledge. Awareness of the BLS term abbreviation was significantly higher among trained participants (85.3%). In first response to an unresponsive person, BLS-trained participants (39.2%) performed significantly better than untrained ones (26.1%) (P = 0.001). The Ministry of Education should evaluate policy reforms to mandate BLS training as a compulsory component of a teacher's certification.