KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS BASIC LIFE SUPPORT AMONG HEALTHCARE STUDENTS AT UMM AL-QURA UNIVERSITY IN MAKKAH: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN 2020

Background: patients requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation are considered in a critical and life-threatening. Consequently, clinicians dealing with these patients should have a good knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which should start before their graduation. Hence, understanding the practices and knowledge of healthcare students towards this condition is essential. our study aims to evaluate the level of knowledge and attitude of healthcare students towards basic life support in Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional and questionnaire-based study was conducted from January to February 2020. the participates were healthcare students from seven different faculties across Umm Al-Qura University, Mekkah, Saudi Arabia. The survey included questions on student demographics, Knowledge, and attitude towards basic life support, with a score calculated to compare students. Data analysis was excuted through SPSS program version 26. Results: hundred and twenty-three students participated in the study. 44.4% of the students were from the College of Medicine, where 22.5% were interns. 98.1% heard before about CPR previously, while 74.5% heard about EMS, and almost all the students (99.5%) had a previous BLS training. The most common source of information for 66% was lectures. As for knowledge score, the mean score was 4.5±1.9. There was a significant difference in knowledge score among different faculties (p value<0.001), academic year (p value=0.002), previous knowledge of CPR (p value=0.009), previous knowledge of emergency medical service (p value