Abstract
BackgroundBystander first aid can improve survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or trauma. Thus, providing first aid education to laypersons may lead to better outcomes. In this study, we aimed to establish the prevalence and distribution of first aid training in the populace, how often first aid skills are needed, and self-reported helping behaviour.MethodsWe conducted a telephone survey of 1000 respondents who were representative of the Norwegian population. Respondents were asked where and when they had first aid training, if they had ever encountered situations where first aid was necessary, and stratified by occupation. First aid included cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and basic life support (BLS). To test theoretical first aid knowledge, respondents were subjected to two hypothetical first aid scenarios.ResultsAmong the respondents, 90% had received first aid training, and 54% had undergone first aid training within the last 5 years. The workplace was the most common source of first aid training. Of the 43% who had been in a situation requiring first aid, 89% had provided first aid in that situation. There were considerable variations among different occupations in first aid training, and exposure to situations requiring first aid. Theoretical first aid knowledge was not as good as expected in light of the high share who had first aid training. In the presented scenarios 42% of respondent would initiate CPR in an unconscious patient not breathing normally, and 46% would provide an open airway to an unconscious road traffic victim. First aid training was correlated with better theoretical knowledge, but time since first aid training was not.ConclusionsA high proportion of the Norwegian population had first aid training, and interviewees reported high willingness to provide first aid. Theoretical first aid knowledge was worse than expected. While first aid is part of national school curriculum, few have listed school as the source for their first aid training.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12873-017-0116-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Bystander first aid can improve survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or trauma
Persons with first aid training were more likely to have been in a situation requiring first aid compared to those that did not have first aid training (p < 0.001; logistic regression; controlling for age, gender, and occupation), but not more likely to intervene
Interviewees with first aid training were younger (t-test, mean 44 vs 56 years, p < 0.01), and men were more likely than women to be trained first aiders (91% trained vs 85% trained, chisquare test, p = 0.02)
Summary
Bystander first aid can improve survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or trauma. In Norway, 54–76% of OHCA victims receive bystander CPR, and 62–81% of trauma patients receive basic life support (BLS) from bystanders [3,4,5,6] These rates of bystander first aid coverage are at the high end of the reported worldwide range from 15 to 55% [7, 8]. Provision of first aid education to laypersons is considered an important means of improving OHCA and trauma outcomes [2, 11,12,13] Since it may not be of benefit or feasible to train the entire population in first aid, such training should target high-risk groups and schoolchildren [14].
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