Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an integral part of prehospital emergency care. Addressing the barriers to successful CPR may help improve the quality of CPR in the future.

The present study aimed to identify the barriers to successful CPR from the perspective of EMS providers.

This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted from May 2015 to Jan 2016. One hundred sixty EMS providers who were employed at EMS affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences (Iran) were selected through simple random sampling. To assess barriers to the success of CPR, data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire (60 questions) categorized in six subscales. Study data were analyzed by SPSS v.16, descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation), and inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA).

Among the subscales of barriers to successful CPR from the perspective of EMS providers, the EMS structure subscale was the most important (3.06 ± 0.38, out of a 0 - 4 range). In this subscale, public inaccessibility automated external defibrillator (AED) (3.59 ± 0.49) and Lack of telephone-CPR advice by the dispatcher (3.58 ± 0.55) were the most important barriers, respectively. There was a significant difference between the mean score of barriers to successful CPR and educational status, which increased in EMS providers with BS degree (P = 0.003). There was no significant difference between the mean score of barriers to successful CPR compared to the other demographic characteristics of EMS providers (P > 0.05).

EMS providers perceived public inaccessibility AED and Lack of telephone-CPR training as the most important barriers to success CPR in prehospital emergency care. Therefore, public access to AED must be emphasized to promote immediate response and improve CPR's outcome in EMS. Moreover, telephone-CPR training by dispatchers should be recommended to help increase the success of CPR.