Abstract:
First aid is needed in daily life at any situation. So every citizen shares a responsibility of having basic first aid knowledge and practices. First aider should be able to assess, provide care and direct to appropriate medical care. This study was planned to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices on first aid among senior school prefects in relation to the gender and previous exposure to first aid training. A descriptive cross sectional study was undertaken in two selected schools out of five girls’ schools and five boys’ schools in Galle educational division which are already having first aid trainings. All senior prefects in the two schools were eligible for the study. Data were collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire which contain both open ended and closed ended questions under four parts (Part 1-Socio-demographic data, Part 2- knowledge on first aid, part 3-attitudes on first aid, part 4 - practical scenarios on first aid). There were 66 senior prefects; 35 males and 31 females. All of them had heard the term of “First aid”. However, primary assessment in first aid (DRABC-Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, and Circulation) was known to 17 (10 males and 7 females) subjects. Nearly 70% (25 males, 22 females) heard the term “cardiopulmonary resuscitation”. But of them only 12 males and 5 females were able to mention the ratio of chest compressions to rescue breaths as 30:2. There was positive attitude towards first aid as the mean ± SD score was 24.23±2.4 out of 30 marks. Nearly 3/4 of them had the view of having first aid in their school curriculum and wants to improve their first aid knowledge and practices. Overall, there were significant difference in attitudes of females than males (p=0.04). Overall mean ±SD value that was scored for the practices section was 4.53±1.48. Only 9 individuals, each from both schools were able to obtain scores over 5 out of 10. There was a significant effect of previous first aid education on knowledge (χ2=13.08, p<0.05), attitudes (χ2=6.52, p<0.05) and practices (χ2=11.47, p<0.05) of senior prefects. Though there were positive attitudes towards learning first aid, the knowledge and practices on first aid was insufficient among senior prefects of Galle educational division.
