Attitudes and Barriers of Primary School Children on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Drowning Victims

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is a lifesaving procedure whenever a cardiac arrest victim. Drowning is also one of the factors that can lead to cardiac arrest, especially in coastal areas. Children who live in the coastal community are very at risk for drowning due to the nature of their playground located in the coastal zone. Empowering and educating them to skill on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is more important to provide effective prevention means in reducing the mortality rate, it would require attitudes and barriers from the public especially. Objectives: This study aimed to explore attitudes and barriers to CPR in drowning victims for primary school children aged in the coastal community of Malaysia. Method: This study follows a quasi-experimental design with educational videos about CPR pre-and post-intervention. The studied participants were participated in this study through an online google form survey due to the current pandemic situation. All the participants were from primary school children in the coastal area. Results: This study revealed that most of the participants (70.6%) would perform CPR for drowning victims after the intervention given to them compared to pre-intervention, which was 58.8%. As for the “Does the public need to learn CPR?”, most of the participants (88.2%) agreed that everyone needed to learn CPR procedures after giving the intervention. 76.5% of the participant want training on CPR for drowning before the intervention, but there is a slight decrease after intervention given, which is (64.7%). Around 58.8% of the participants were confident in initiating CPR for drowning victims before and after the intervention. Moreover, approximately 82.4% of the participant would perform CPR if their friends were in danger after the intervention. The majority of the participants (70.6%) think adults are more suitable for performing CPR in the post-intervention questionnaire than only 52.9% for the pre-intervention questionnaire. Discussion: Primary school children showed a significant change in their attitudes and barriers after receiving the intervention. Consideration should be given to integrating the CPR training or lesson in the syllabus of primary education would save more lives. Keywords: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, drowning victims, primary school children