RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Pre-hospital resuscitation in cardiac arrest is crucial to survival of patients, so emergency medical services personnel must have up-to-date knowledge and good skills. AIMS: This study aimed to determine the association between knowledge and skills of emergency medical services personnel of basic life support in north-west Khuzestan province, Islamic Republic of Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included all personnel of emergency medical services (75 participants) in two emergency centres. Data were collected on characteristics of the participants (age, time since last retraining, academic degree, and length of experience), and their knowledge of basic life support. Skills were assessed by observing the personnel carry out basic life support and use of an automated external defibrillator on a mannequin. RESULTS: Poor knowledge was found in 31% of the personnel (mean score: 19.35 (SD 3.9); range: 0-34) and 42.7% had poor skills (mean score: 5.40 (SD 2.39); range: 0-9). Most of the staff (71%) did not use the automated external defibrillator correctly. No statistically significant relationship was found between staff knowledge and skills (P = 0.298). Staff knowledge and skills were significantly associated with correct use of the defibrillator (P = 0.039). Knowledge score was significantly associated with length of time since doing resuscitation training (P = 0.006) and academic qualification (P = 0.046). The skills score was significantly associated with time since doing training (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: Strategies to maintain and improve the life support knowledge and skills of personnel in emergency medical services are recommended.