Dental Professionals' Awareness on Updated Guidelines for Basic Life Support in COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Abstract Background  Members of dental fraternity have a duty of care to provide safe services to the patients. The satisfactory performance in a medical emergency in dental practice has wide-range implications. But, in the current scenario, the challenge is to ensure that patients with or without coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), who undergo any medical emergency, get the best possible chance of survival without compromising the safety of rescuers, who will be needed to take care for future patients. Aim  This article assesses the awareness and knowledge on interim guidelines for Basic Life Support in adults with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 among various dental health care professionals. Materials and Methods  An online questionnaire-based survey was conducted; framed in Google Forms and sent to various dental health care professionals through WhatsApp, email, and other means. Results were then analyzed and are presented in the form of frequency and percentage. Results  In the study, 224 responders were included comprising undergraduates, postgraduates, and dental practitioners. Dismally, none of them had complete knowledge on the interim guidance for Basic Life Support for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. Conclusion  The study suggests that updated interim guidelines were unknown to maximum percentage of dental professionals which implies that there is need to keep ourselves up-to-date to provide safe services.