A Questionnaire Survey of Perceptions of Basic Life Support (BLS) among Radiological Technologists: Radiological Technologists Often Encounter Patients with Cardiopulmonary Arrest during Diagnostic Imaging Examinations.

ABSTRACT

Aim: The present study aims to investigate the perceptions of basic life support (BLS), motivations for learning BLS and self-evaluations of the ability to practice BLS skills in radiological technologists clinically working in Mie prefecture, Japan. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on 489 radiological technologists (RTs) living in Mie prefecture, Japan, from August to December 2014. The responded questionnaire was collected from 158 RTs (recovery rate 32%) with written informed consent. Results: Almost one third of the RTs (32.3%) had encountered cardiopulmonary arrest during a radiological examination. The percentage of those who ‘understood’ the purpose and method of BLS reached 71.5%. Approximately half of the respondents considered the ability to practice BLS ‘practicable’, while the remaining half considered it to be ‘difficult’. All RTs knew of the term ‘AED’, and 98.7% ‘understood’ the purpose of AEDs and how to handle them. Similarly, 92.4% of them responded that they were ‘practicable’ to use AEDs. Although sixty percent of RTs had undertaken a BLS training course, only three quarters of them considered themselves ‘practicable’ BLS and 65.6% had no confidence in their BLS skills. Moreover, 39.2% of RTs had not undertaken a BLS training course, and only 9.7% responded ‘practicable’ for practice of BLS among those with training course experience. None of RTs who had not undertaken a BLS training course answered ‘fully confident’ and 95.2% had no or little confidence in their BLS skills. Conclusion: In this study, it is considered that many RTs understand the purpose and handling of AEDs and have the ability to use an AED. The majority of the RTs participating in a BLS training course are ‘practicable’ to practice BLS, though they felt ‘little confidence’ about their BLS skill level. In contrast, the majority of RTs with no experience of attending a BLS training course were not able to practice BLS. Therefore, a BLS training course is very crucial for obtaining the ability to practice BLS, although there is a necessity to improve the content of BLS training course.