Knowledge, attitude and practices of relief workers regarding first aid measures

To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of relief workers posted in rescue and relief bases of the Red Crescent Society of Mazandaran province of Iran during Nouroz holidays.

Two hundred and nineteen relief workers were selected as the study sample from thirteen Norouz rescue and relief bases of Red Crescent Society in Mazandaran province, which has 13 cities, for this cross-sectional descriptive study. Through a cluster random sampling, a pre- tested, structured and validated questionnaire was used to assess knowledge and attitude of relief workers. A practical test with a check list was used to assess their practices. The data were analyzed by t test and analysis of variance.

The relief workers had an average knowledge score of 56.5% and attitude score of 52.9% on first aid. There was significant difference between knowledge and education level (p<0.0001). Of the total relief workers, 83% knew how to correctly perform a Cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), while 94 percent reported that they did not know how to perform endotracheal intubation.

Relief workers demonstrated moderate level of knowledge, attitude and practices towards first aid. Capacity building of relief workers on first aid will help to reduce morbidity and mortality, especially from traffic injuries.