Community Medicine Abstracts - College of Medicine and Health ...

Project No. 82 (1996)First Aid Knowledge in the UAEStudent Authors: Abdulla Al-HassaniFaculty Supervisors: Prof. J. Norman, Dr. A. BenerAbstract:Objectives To assess the extent of first aid knowledge among different categories ofpopulation in Al Ain City, UAE.Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Al Ain City amongseveral variants of population including nurses, medical and other university students,traffic police and rest of population from 11 May to 12 June 1996.Results The sample studied was 439 (64.2% were male, 35.8% were female). Thebest response was achieved by nurses. They achieve a mean score of 69.3% out of100%. Medical students achieved a mean score of 66.5% with apparent lack ofknowledge in certain conditions concerning ABC management. University studentswere the weakest. They achieved a mean score of only 33.9%. Traffic policeachieved a mean score of 39.05%. Tawam nurses got a mean score of 76.58% whilethat of Al Ain Nurses was 60.85%. The non-medical faculty staff response had a meanscore of 43.33% before the first aid course and 92.5% after they had completed thecourse. Study showed that education level has very slight impact on extent of first aidknowledge among these categories.Conclusion First aid knowledge seems to be largely deficient especially among nonmedicalpeople and that of medical people needs to be improved. It is recommendedto establish an educational program in which all categories of population can attendand build up a reference guide of the first aid basic knowledge.