Evaluation of Physiotherapists' Knowledge Level of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Cardiopulmonary arrest is a sudden stop of breathing and circulation. Resuscitation is an effort to restore spontaneous heartbeat, respiration and brain functions .Although it is actually a standard algorithm, the approach to cardiopulmonary resuscitation can vary among practitioners.Resuscitation success; practitioner, the state of the arrested person,It depends on several factors such as the resources and equipment available.

The main issue in the success of the resuscitation; how quickly the scene can be reached and how effective CPR can be performed.Guidelines on CPR, including resuscitation information, are updated by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) in various time periods.Although there are some differences in resuscitation practices, the importance of early diagnosis and rapid intervention are emphasized in both guidelines. The shortest possible time for the patient to return to life after cardiac arrest Basic Life Support (TYD) and Advanced Life Support (ADS) should be initiated in the period.TYD is applied by non-professional but trained individuals without any material or medication. On the other hand, IDE is applied by a professional team of health professionals using the necessary materials and medicines. It is possible to encounter a cardiac arrest anywhere inside or outside the hospital.

The fact that healthcare workers have been trained on TYD and VBS is an important factor in increasing the chances of arrest cases to come back to life.

Only two published studies on the attitudes of physiotherapists towards CPR have been identified in the literature. One of these was a study involving 140 hospital-based physiotherapists who investigated their knowledge, attitudes and practices in CPR in South-West Nigeria. The authors found that 64% of respondents had insufficient to average theoretical knowledge about CPR and only 45% of respondents held a positive attitude about the importance of CPR.

The second study was conducted with 2,614 healthcare professionals from two Swedish hospitals, where participants filled out a questionnaire about physical / mental discomfort and attitudes towards CPR before and after training. A total of 228 assistant health professionals were included in the sample, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, and biomedical analysts.

All healthcare professional groups relied more on CPR knowledge after training; however, one limitation of this is that they do not test pre- or post-practice CPR skills. Unfortunately, the applicability of the findings was limited, as the group of physiotherapists was an unidentified subset of 228 allied health professionals in the study.