Some Aspects of Population Willingness to Provide First Aid

BACKGROUND The key link in saving the life of the victim is the provision of first aid at the scene of the incident by random bystander. In order to plan measures aimed at increasing the effectiveness of first aid and reducing the mortality of victims, a clear understanding of the degree of readiness of the population to provide first aid and the factors that determine it is required.

AIM OF THE STUDY To determine the level of willingness of the population to provide first aid, the factors that determine it and ways to increase the population’s readiness to provide it.

MATERIAL AND METHODS In January–June 2023, a survey of workers in the fuel and energy complex of the Republic of Belarus was conducted using the developed questionnaire “Willingness to Provide First Aid”. Respondents’ participation in the survey was anonymous and voluntary. The questionnaire contained two blocks of questions: the first was thematic, the second was socio-demographic, with characteristics of the respondents. Statistical analysis was performed using the program IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 (IBM Corporation , USA) using nonparametric statistics methods. To quantitatively describe the results of the regression analysis, odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used.

RESULTS The study involved 894 respondents without medical education. 24.9% were trained in first aid skills, 9.1% studied independently. 4.2% participated in providing first aid (carrying out cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR) to the victim in real conditions. 16.6% of respondents showed a high degree of readiness to provide first aid, 50.7% — average, 32.7% — low. Statistically significant predictors of high readiness to provide first aid to a victim in critical condition are: male gender (OR: 2.9; 95% CI: [1.1–7.4]; p=0.025), previous experience (OR: 2.2; 95% CI: [1.4–3.4]; p=0.000) or independent training (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: [1.1–3.9]; p=0.024) and participation in providing first aid (performing CPR) to a victim in real conditions (OR: 5.5; 95% CI: [2.6–11.6]; p=0.000). The main barriers to providing first aid to a victim in critical condition are: fear of causing irreparable harm to the victim and lack of knowledge and skills in providing first aid.

CONCLUSION The study proved that the respondents’ readiness to provide first aid directly depends on its psychological and practical components. Promising areas for optimizing the existing training system may include: increasing the motivation of the population, unifying training, and creating a national electronic database for posting information materials.

1. Birkun AA, Samarin SA, Tupotilova AA. News as a Means of Popularization of First Aid Knowledge: Content Analysis of News Articles Related to Cases of Pediatric Cardiac Arrest in Schools and Kindergartens of Russia. Russian Sklifosovsky Journal Emergency Medical Care. 2022;11(4):668–675. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.23934/2223-9022-2022-11-4-668-675

2. Zhuravlev SV, Kolodkin AA, Maksimov DA, Trofimenko AV, Dezhurny LI, Boyarintsev VV. The Organization of Registration of Rate, Capacity and Effectiveness of First Aid Measures. Problems of Social Hygiene, Public Health and History of Medicine. 2020;28(4):616–620. (In Russ.). PMID: 32827380 https://doi.org/10.32687/0869-866X-2020-28-4-616-620

3. Birkun AA, Dezhurny LI, Raevskiy AA. Foreign Body Airway Obstruction: Modern Principles and Approaches to First Aid and Dispatcher Assistance on First Aid. Russian Sklifosovsky Journal of Emergency Medical Care. 2023;12(2):299–308. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.23934/2223-9022-2023-12-2-299-308

4. Birkun AA, Kosova YA. Public Opinion on Community Basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training: a Survey of Inhabitants of the Crimean Peninsula. Russian Sklifosovsky Journal of Emergency Medical Care. 2018;7(4):311–318. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.23934/2223-9022-2018-7-4-311-318

5. Bogdan IV, Gurylina MV, Chistyakova DP. Knowledge and practical experience of the population in providing first aid. Health Care of the Russian Federation. 2020;64(5):253–257. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.46563/0044-197X-2020-64-5-253-257

6. Delhomme C, Njeim M, Varlet E, Pechmajou L, Benameur N, Cassan P, et al. Automated external defibrillator use in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: current limitations and solutions. Arch Cardiovasc Dis. 2019;112(3):217–222. PMID: 30594573 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acvd.2018.11.001

7. Marino R, Bertocci N, Bernabei M, Bonotti A, Mignani A, Fallahi P, et al. Analysis of survival at cardiac arrest in events occurred in work environments in the territory served by an operations center of the 118 of Tuscany. Med Lav. 2020;111(5):399–403. PMID: 33124611 https://doi.org/10.23749/mdl.v111i5.8897

8. Stanishevskiy AL. Population Readiness for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Initiation Factors, Barriers and their Predictors. Disaster Medicine. 2024;(3):17–21 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.33266/2070-1004-2024-3-17-21

9. Stanishevsky AL, Sokolov YA, Timoshuk AL, Novikava NP. First aid: issues of information, motivation and training of the population. Meditsinskie novosti. 2024;(12):19–23. (In Russ.)

10. Stanishevsky AL. Promising ways to raise public awareness of first aid rules. Emergency Medical Care. 2024;25(3):27–33 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24884/2072-6716-2024-25-3-27-33

11. Stanishevsky AL, Sokolov YA, Sokolchik VN, Senator VV. Organizational and legal aspects of first aid: analysis of public awareness. Meditsinskie novosti. 2024;(7):43–49. (In Russ.)

12. Birkun AA, Gautam A. Dr. Google’s Advice on First Aid: Evaluation of the Search Engine’s Question-Answering System Responses to Queries Seeking Help in Health Emergencies. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2023;38(3):345–351. PMID: 37165838 https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X23000511