A Cross-Sectional Study of Knowledge about First Aid in Undergraduate Medical Students of Maharashtra

Abstract

Background- First aid is defined as the assessment and interventions that can be performed by a bystander
immediately with minimal or no medical equipments Objective- To study the knowledge about First aid
in undergraduate medical students of Maharashtra . Methodology- Cross-sectional study including all the
150 first year undergraduate medical students undertaken in May 2016 in the department of Community
Medicine in Government medical college in Maharashtra. Result- 10 % students had excellent knowledge,
52 % needed improvements,17 % had adequate knowledge and 21 % had poor knowledge about first-aid.
With respect to awareness of first aid measures, 28% and 26% had poor knowledge of first aid emergencies
like loss of consciousness and snake bite. Followed by poor knowledge in management of burns 23.33%,
poisoning 22% , road traffic accident 20% and seizures19.34%.Excellent knowledge of first aid was seen
in 16% cases of nasal bleeding, 14% in cases of bleeding, 12% in cases of fractures and 11.34% in cases of
poisoning. Conclusion- The study highlights that majority of the students need improvement in knowledge
of first aid. Early exposure of trainings in the medical career will make them socially responsible and
clinically oriented in the emergency situations.