The knowledge and experience of high school students about first aid practices

Death rates caused by the accidents and natural disasters are high both in our country and inthe world. The main objective of ?Health for Everyone in 21st Century? policy, developed byWorld Health Organization, is to protect human life and develop healthy lifestyles. The ninthaim of ?Health for Everyone in 21h Century? policy is ?Reducing Accidental Injuries?. In thiscontext, training of people and informing the public about first aid is gaining high importance.This study is a descriptive research and subjected to 791 high school students to assess theirlevel of knowledge about first aid practices. Prior to data collection, institutional permissionsand informed verbal consent were obtained. The data about the knowledge regarding first aidpractices was gathered using a questionnaire developed by researchers. Data was analyzedusing SPSS (11.5 version) statistical program. The average age of the students is 16.22±1.19(Range: 13-20), 16.25% of them have not received ?First Aid? course. "Emergencyassistance/ambulance number" and ?Definition of first aid performer" questions have thehighest correct results with 93.9% and 90.1%, respectively. On the other hand, "PoisonCounseling Center Number" and "Open fracture definition" questions have the lowest correctresults with 1.5% and 1.6% respectively. On level of knowledge for basic first aid practicesscored the highest 12th grade students (x±SD: 20.66±3.25, Range: 9-34), and 9th gradestudents scored the lowest on (x±SD: 19.2±3.9, Range: 9-34). Students, working a part-timeobtained higher scores from ?Injuries? sub-group than those not working part-time (Zmwu= -2.44, p=0.01). There was not a statistically significant relationship between level ofknowledge of basic first aid practices and the following variables (p>0.05) such as; ?age?,?receiving a first aid course?, ?a history of serious health problems within the last sixmonths?, and ?the perception of the health status?. As a conclusion, it is suggested that thereis need to promote the first aid knowledge and skills of high school students; to establishcomprehensive first aid courses and training programs in schools.