International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 193 Vol.4; Issue: 5; May 2014 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Attitude of School Children towards Basic Life Support in Punjab, India Anurag Bhai Patidar 1 , Asha Sharma 2 1 Lecturer, Bhopal Nursing College, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhay Pradesh. 2 Ex- Principal, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing, New Delhi. Corresponding Author: Anurag Bhai Patidar Received: 21/03//2014 Revised: 11/04/2014 Accepted: 25/04/2014 ABSTRACT Introduction: Basic life support performed by bystanders improves outcomes in cardio respiratory collapse, yet less than 1% of the general population can perform it effectively. Training school children in CPR has been strongly advocated by European Resuscitation Council. Integrating CPR training throughout the school career appears an effective strategy. The present study is aimed to assess the attitude towards Basic Life Support Techniques among 9 th standard school students in selected schools of Ludhiana, Punjab. Material and Methods: We recruited 301 9 th standard school students from five conveniently selected schools of Ludhiana, Punjab. Sociodemographic data was collected through structured sociodemographic sheet. Attitude toward Basic Life Support was assessed using five point Likert scale. Test retest reliability coefficient of attitude scale was r=0.914. The split half Spearman- Brown prophecy reliability coefficient was r=0.895. Participants were given full disclosure of the study and written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Written permission for data collection was obtained from the concerned school principal. Results: Mean age of study sample was 14.29±0.85 year (range 13-17 years). Slightly more than half (56.66%) of the students were male. Mean attitude score of the sample was 54.20 ± 7.99 which shows positive inclination of the sample towards Basic Life Support. However, the mean score of the female students (55.87 ± 7.74) was significantly more (p value =0.001) as compared to their male counterparts (52.93 ± 7.98). Conclusion: Positive attitude of secondary school students reflects a fertile ground on which the crop of lay rescuer can be sown. If, BLS training is provided to them their positive attitude can make them a responsible lay rescuer to save a life of cardiac arrest victim in a country where the incidence of out of hospital cardiac arrest is advancing. Key words: Basic Life Support, Attitude, School Students. INTRODUCTION The risk of coronary artery disease in Indians is 3-4 times higher than White Americans, 6-times higher than Chinese, and 20-times higher than Japanese. [1,2] Coronary artery disease and coronary risk factors in India are two or three times higher among the urban compared with the rural subjects, which may be due to greater sedentary behaviour and alcohol intake among Indian urban. It was estimated [3] that nearly 30 million Indians had cardiovascular disease in 2003, which represented a prevalence of 8–10% among urban Indians. Another side of the coin is that Indians are prone as a community to CAD at a much younger age. [4,5] In the Western population, incidence of CAD in the young is up to 5%