Evaluation of public awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards basic life support: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a major cause of mortality worldwide. When basic life support techniques are implemented quickly, the chance of survival is doubled. Therefore, this study evaluated public awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards basic life support in Jordan. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 300 Jordanian adults aged over 18 years, recruited from three metropolitan areas in the northern, middle and southern regions. RESULTS: A total of 87 participants (29%) stated that they have received training about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Among them, 20 participants (23%) received their training through the media. The highest response rate for cardiac arrest signs was chest pain (n = 129, 43%). Participants who received training had greater knowledge of the three signs of consciousness evaluation. The numbers of participants who received training and performed chest compression, mouth-to-mouth ventilation, and both compression and ventilation were higher than those who did not receive training. Overall, 256 participants (88.3%) reported that they would perform CPR on someone from their family without hesitation. The most important concern about performing CPR was making a mistake. CONCLUSIONS: Improving knowledge about cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an important topic, which can be achieved by training the general population. Media can play an important role in this issue. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12873-018-0190-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.