Possession of first aid basic knowledge by specific population groups

The term 'first aid' refers to the preliminary care that is given to patients or injured individuals. The main objective of first aid is to offer effective assistance to victims until a more qualified professional becomes available to provide for further care. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether specific populations possess the basic knowledge and skills that are necessary to offer this initial phase of treatment. Material-Method: The studied population consisted of 1387 individuals, of which 57.9% (N = 803) were male. Data was collected through the creation and administration of a questionnaire composed of 28 questions. The data analysis was performed using the statistical program SPSS (version 16) (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Results: Almost half of the sample, 764 individuals (55.1%) never attended a 'first aid' seminar, while 623 (44.9%) did. The latter group could be further divided in accordance to the duration of the seminars that they partook in. 405 (29.2%) attended for 12 to 24 hours, 88 (6.3%) for 2-3 weeks, 50 (3.6%) for one month, and 81 (5.8%) for more than a month. Health professionals were 3.1 times more likely to have attended a seminar than the other respondents (N: 1.144, OR: 3.138, 95% CI: 1.508-6.528, p: 0.002). 67.6% of the studied sample would react correctly in a situation where an unconscious child would be carried out from sea, while 63.7% would do the Heimlich maneuver on a person who felt breathlessness while choking during a meal. Nine hundred and six people (65.3%) would give an unconscious diabetic something sweet to eat. People who had graduated from an institute were 1.4 times more likely to properly deal with a diabetic who was in a critical condition (OR: 1.401, 95% CI: 1.060-1.853, p: 0.018) Conclusions: First aid training is a vital asset for all population groups. It is therefore all the more important to make such education programs accessible to the wider population. Furthermore the implementation of such programs should be systematic and should not only cover theoretical foundations but practical ones as well.

Keywords: First aid, education, bystanders, seminar