title: Basic life support knowledge of first-year university students from Brazil.
abstract: We aimed to evaluate knowledge of first aid among new undergraduates and whether it is affected by their chosen course. A questionnaire was developed to assess knowledge of how to activate the Mobile Emergency Attendance Service - MEAS (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência; SAMU), recognize a pre-hospital emergency situation and the first aid required for cardiac arrest. The students were also asked about enrolling in a first aid course. Responses were received from 1038 of 1365 (76.04%) new undergraduates. The questionnaires were completed in a 2-week period 1 month after the beginning of classes. Of the 1038 respondents (59.5% studying biological sciences, 11.6% physical sciences, and 28.6% humanities), 58.5% knew how to activate the MEAS/SAMU (54.3% non-biological vs 61.4% biological, P=0.02), with an odds ratio (OR)=1.39 (95%CI=1.07-1.81) regardless of age, sex, origin, having a previous degree or having a relative with cardiac disease. The majority could distinguish emergency from non-emergency situations. When faced with a possible cardiac arrest, 17.7% of the students would perform chest compressions (15.5% non-biological vs 19.1% biological first-year university students, P=0.16) and 65.2% would enroll in a first aid course (51.1% non-biological vs 74.7% biological, P<0.01), with an OR=2.61 (95%CI=1.98-3.44) adjusted for the same confounders. Even though a high percentage of the students recognized emergency situations, a significant proportion did not know the MEAS/SAMU number and only a minority had sufficient basic life support skills to help with cardiac arrest. A significant proportion would not enroll in a first aid course. Biological first-year university students were more prone to enroll in a basic life support course.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: M R R A
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Margarido
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Caires
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: R A N
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: J M A
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Martimiano
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: C S K
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Dutra
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palha
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: A C G
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.affiliation: Programa de Educação Tutorial, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pazin-Filho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D004500:Education, Graduate / Q000145:classification; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D005260:Female; D005392:First Aid; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D058980:Information Literacy; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000145:classification*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult