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First aid: Level of knowledge of relatives and bystanders in emergency situations

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Abstract

Bystanders who are able to provide immediate first aid to patients who require emergency care can make a big difference in the outcome. Thus, first-aid training should be made available to as many people as possible. The aims of this study were to assess the level of first-aid knowledge among bystanders in emergency situations and to identify factors that affected this level of knowledge. At Dokuz Eylul University Emergency Service between February 1 and February 15, 2002, 318 bystanders were given a questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire was concerned with demographic characteristics and factors that would affect first-aid knowledge level. The second part consisted of 16 multiple choice questions about first aid. Bystanders answered an average of 7.16±3.14 questions correctly. Bystanders who had graduated from a university, were health care personnel, had taken a first-aid course, had a first-aid certificate, or had a driver’s license were considered to be more successful.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emergency Physician Emergency Medicine Department, Suleyman Demirel University Medical School, 32260, Cunur/Isparta, Turkey

    Onder Tomruk MD

  2. Emergency Physician Emergency Medicine Department, Yeditepe University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

    Suna Soysal MD

  3. Department of Public Health, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

    Turkan Gunay MD

  4. Emergency Medicine Department, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

    Arif H. Cimrin MD

Authors
  1. Onder Tomruk MD
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  2. Suna Soysal MD
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  3. Turkan Gunay MD
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  4. Arif H. Cimrin MD
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Tomruk, O., Soysal, S., Gunay, T. et al. First aid: Level of knowledge of relatives and bystanders in emergency situations. Adv Therapy 24, 691–699 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02849962

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