Medical Emergencies and Basic Life Support course: 4 years utility and clinical experience impact in pharmacists

Abstract

Introduction & Aims
Medical emergencies can occur at any time in an ambulatory pharmacy, so being prepared to properly manage the situation can be the difference between life and death. This study aims to assess the utility and clinical experience impact of the medical emergencies and basic life support course with simulation in pharmacists and pharmacy students.
Methods
A confidential survey was sent by email to all participants (286 participants) of the Medical Emergencies and Basic Life Support course performed by the Biomedical Simulation Center of Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (BSC), from 2013 to 2016, corresponding to 30 sessions. The questionnaire was focused on the utility of the course and perception of performance during emergency situations in clinical practice and was responded in a 5-point Likert scale (being 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) to all questions. An open-ended question was added for suggestions to course improvement.
Results & Discussion
The questionnaire was responded by 91 (32%)participants, aged from 18 to 55 years-old, 69.5% were pharmacists, 17.6% were trainees and 16.5% were students.
Most responders (>85%) strongly agreed or agreed that the course matched their clinical practice and helped improve it, helped to remember/consolidate knowledge, that fulfilled the training needs and met their expectations. 73.5% of responders had medical emergencies mentioned during the course and in 75.8% of cases helped to manage those situations. None of them had situations that needed to perform basic life support. 57.1% of responders say the course should be repeated 5/5 years and 31.9% in intervals of 2 years.
Overall, the course matched participants' expectations, helped them to improve their clinical practice and to manage medical emergencies, giving a high importance to it. The main suggestion in the open-ended question was to increase the practical component and the duration of the course.