Assessment of Knowledge Attitude and Practices of Military Personnel Regarding First Aid Measures in Northern Command 21 st Division
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Date
2014-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Back ground: First aid is the initial treatment or help given to sick particularly injured
individual before professional medical care becomes available with the materials at hand. Such
intervention aims in reducing the situations that threaten the victim until a professional arrives or
the sick individual is brought to health facility. The first minutes after a serious injury represent
only a short time during which potentially lifesaving measures can be initiated. Many deaths
from blocked airways or external bleeding can be avoided with quick action such as opening a
blocked airway, assisting breathing and applying direct pressure to a wound to reduce bleeding.
Objective: to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of military personnel regarding first aid
measures.
Method: The study site was northern command, 21st division military personnel. Descriptive
cross-sectional study design was employed on sample size of 375 military personnel from
February 20 - 30, 2014 G.C study period.
Results: A total of 375 military personnel‟s, all were males and the response rate was 100%. The
mean ± SD age of the study participants was (26.7 ± 7.14) years and with majority rank was
Private 162 (43.2%).From the participant 160 (42.7%) attended FA training. Most of them had
trained on the military training center. Priorities to respiratory problem causality giving FA 272
(72.5%) have correct answer. Majority knew fractured FA and 365(96.8%) knew one or more
than one bleeding control methods. Attitude to first aid was thought to be positive, majority of
the respondents were ready to be trained and 312(83.2%) were interest to give FA to others, but
375(48.5%) of them thought that FA could be performed by any person.
Conclusion
The study participant‟s (military personnel) are expected to know first aid measures more
because of their mission. But the result showed that there were gabs on preferable position of
unconscious patients, FA of penetrating objects on the abdomen, FA of chemical burn, FA of
penetrating eye injury, FA of priority, FA of protruded intestine, seizure, choking, cardiac arrest,
fractured. Also half of the participants believed FA activity was performed only by health
workers. So it is important to evaluate the first aid training programs of military training center
to improve knowledge, practice and attitude of the military personnel‟s regarding basic life
support.
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Military Personnel Regarding