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

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.