Lago, Alexa Joslin Dal2020-11-042020-11-042020https://hdl.handle.net/10539/29973A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Medicine in Anaesthesia to the Faculty of Health Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020Background Cardiac arrest remains a significant cause of death in many parts of the world despite advances in medical technology and scientific research in the field of resuscitation. Aim The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge profile of anaesthetists in the faculty of Health Sciences at Wits regarding the 2015 resuscitation guidelines: interns, medical officers, registrars, consultants were included in the study. The study focused on the course material found in the BLS, ACLS, PALS courses from the Resuscitation Council of South Africa. Method A prospective, observational, transversal, research design was used. Data was collected in the form of an anonymous questionnaire, which was distributed at the departmental academic meetings. Information collected included basic demographics, resuscitation course qualifications, and 25 multiple choice questions based on coursework from the 3 resuscitation courses mentioned above. The questions were specifically structured to highlight the knowledge of the changes in the guidelines from its previous version. Results One hundred and sixty-eight (168) participants were entered into the study. Overall knowledge levels were low with only 7.1% of the participants having adequate iii knowledge (scoring 80% or above). BLS, ACLS and PALS courses were completed by 136, 116 and 70 participants respectively. Of the participants who had completed these courses, 28.4%, 20.7%, 11.2% were current in their certification in the respective courses mentioned above. A statistically significant difference was found in the comparison of knowledge levels of certified compared to non-certified anaesthetists. The number of participants who had adequate knowledge in the certified group was 8 (14.5%) compared to 4 (3.5%) in the non-certified group knowledge (p= 0.010). The mean of correct answers in the certified group was 67.13 vs 56.88 in the non-certified group (p<0.05) with 95% Confidence interval of 3.6, thus indicating that certified anaesthetists had higher resuscitation knowledge levels than non-certified anaesthetists.enThesis