Abstract
Background: Awareness of basic life support (BLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) protocols ensure the patient's survival long enough before medical intervention. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the attitude and awareness about heart attack symptoms and lifesaving actions among the population.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done through an online survey on 6,113 residents of the Western region in Saudi Arabia. A pre-designed questionnaire was used to collect data about sociodemographic characteristics, having heart disease, or a heart attack in the participant or one of their family, sources of information about the heart attack, and knowledge about heart attack and CPR.
Results: 40% of the participants had heard about heart attacks and 65.5% knew that the first step to take if they witness a person suffering from symptoms of heart attack was to call the ER. Only 30.7% of the participants had attended a CPR course and 14.7% had rescued someone from an emergency and only 30.9% knew how to arrange resuscitation steps in order of priority for an adult. Participants with a university education, who had a medical specialization, who had a heart disease themself or had a heart attack in one of their family and those who had a friend as a source of information had a significant higher mean Knowledge score about heart attack and CPR.
Conclusion: There is a need to raise knowledge about heartattack and train the Saudi population in lifesaving action by conducting training courses and awareness campaigns.