The level of awareness of the patients relatives regarding first aid in an emergency department population

VIII. SUMMARY Title: The level of awareness of the patients' relatives regarding first aid in an emergency department population. Objective: First aid is a group of life-or limb-saving maneuvers which should be learned and applied in an emergency. The level of information on the issue in our population has not been investigated. Our aim is to determine the level of awareness of the patients' relatives regarding first aid in an emergency department population and the factors affecting this level. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and eighteen adults randomly selected within the fifteen-day study period were prospectively enrolled in the study. The relatives' demographic characteristics and information level were asked via a sixteen-item quastionnaire. Data was analyzed using t-test, chi- square and Fisher's exact test. Results: Mean number of correct answers was 7.16 ± 3.14. We found that working in health sector, having attended a first-aid course and possessing a driving license had positively affected the level of information (p<0.05) while sex and having a relative working in health sector had not (p>0.05). Conclusions: Education appears to be the main factor directly affecting the level of information regarding first-aid. This study did not measure the practical skills on the issue. Hands-on training may be used to augment this level. 29