Knowledge of first aid skills among students of a medical college in Mangalore city of South India

Abstract

Background:The adequate knowledge required for handling an emergency without hospital setting at the site of the accident or emergency may not be sufficient as most medical schools do not have formal first aid training in the teaching curriculum.Aim:The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge of medical students in providing first aid care.Subjects and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted during May 2011 among 152 medical students. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Based on the scores obtained in each condition requiring first aid, the overall knowledge was graded as good, moderate and poor.Results:Only 11.2% (17/152) of the total student participants had previous exposure to first aid training. Good knowledge about first aid was observed in 13.8% (21/152), moderate knowledge in 68.4% (104/152) and poor knowledge in 17.8% (27/152) participants. Analysis of knowledge about first aid management in select conditions found that 21% (32/152) had poor knowledge regarding first aid management for shock and for gastro esophageal reflux disease and 20.4% (31/152) for epistaxis and foreign body in eyes. All students felt that first aid skills need to be taught from the school level onwards and all of them were willing to enroll in any formal first aid training sessions.Conclusion:The level of knowledge about first aid was not good among majority of the students. The study also identified the key areas in which first aid knowledge was lacking. There is thus a need for formal first aid training to be introduced in the medical curriculum.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of Burns Prevention and First Aid among Medical Students of King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia

“…Half of the respondents demonstrated fair/moderate knowledge regarding burn first aid. This is similar to that reported in studies on medical students elsewhere 11,12 , though the mean scores achieved in our study is higher than that by medical students in Pakistan 5,11 . Similar conclusions were made regarding nurse's knowledge on burns as being poor, irrespective of their field of specialization in a study 13 .…”

“…One study even reported a higher knowledge score among non health care workers than the health care workers 16 . Interestingly, as reported in a study in Cambodia, 17 , primary school students had similar knowledge pattern as that observed for older populations like college students and adults reported in the other studies 5,12,15,18 .…”

“…In a cross sectional study, significantly more individuals gave correct answers if they had attended a first aid course compared to those who had not 15 . Studies in Pakistan and India have also proposed similar suggestions 5,12 . Almost all students in Pakistan realized that first aid training should be part of the curriculum with 84% suggesting that it should be part of pre-university curriculum 5 .…”

The Effect of a Structured First Aid Educational Training Course Among Secondary School Students in Makkah City, an Intervention Study.

“…Our results were consistent with, a study conducted in Karachi which showed that only 8.3% medical students had poor knowledge while 63.2% had good knowledge and 28.3% moderate knowledge (8,9).…”

A study on knowledge regarding first aid among undergraduate medical students

“…The level of knowledge improved with the term, which is similar to our study. 4 In the Karachi study 7.7% students had excellent knowledge about first aid, in our study that was 28.7%. 2 Another study conducted by department of community medicine in BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad on awareness regarding first aid and fire safety among the second year undergraduate medical students stated that knowledge regarding first aid among the medical student was 33.6%, whereas in our study it was 56.7%.…”