ATTITUDE TOWARDS CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION AMONG SOME SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Just like any other aspect of health education and promotion, the attitude of the community to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) will largely determine how they can benefit from it. This cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the attitude towards Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation among secondary school students in our community. The population for the study was the students in Senior Secondary School I and II in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. Four hundred (400) students were purposively drawn from four secondary schools in the area and served copies of a validated questionnaire while 372 properly filled ones were returned, giving a response rate of 93%. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS17.0). The findings revealed that 98.8% exhibited positive attitude towards learning CPR among others. It was concluded that this can form a strong basis to introduce the teaching of CPR in their school curriculum so as to prepare them to be effective bystanders in situations of emergency needing CPR.