Nursing in basic life support teaching for students of middle school

Introduction: Cardiorespiratory arrest can be defined as a sudden, unexpected cessation of systemic circulation related to lack of breathing, which may be reversible by immediate intervention. Objective: to evaluate the previous knowledge and the degree of immediate learning about basic life support among adolescents of middle school in a public school in Belém, Pará, Brazil. Method: this is a descriptive, exploratory study with a quantitative approach, which was structured for the public considered lay in the subject matter. A survey was conducted on the knowledge about BLS before and after the educational action. As a teaching method, an expository class and educational video were used with easy-to-understand language, as well as practical training in resuscitation manikins. Results: from this, it was verified that the participants of this research had levels of knowledge and ability before the educational action that made it impossible to attend to a victim of cardio respiratory arrest. After the action these students demonstrated satisfactory levels of retention on the theoretical-practical training in SBV given, besides demonstrating safety in the practical demonstrations of CPR. Conclusion: Therefore, it is important to train lay people in BLS so that they can be able to recognize a PCR and the immediate maneuvers to be performed, in order to increase the chances of survival of the victim. It was found that this study provided the respondents with a relevant theoretical-practical knowledge and a satisfactory evaluation.