Evaluation of the Level of Basic First Aid Knowledge of Parents Applying to Paediatric Emergency Department

Introduction: First aid is a set of practices that all members of society should know under all circumstances. Our aim was to evaluate the level of basic first aid knowledge of parents of patients admitted to the pediatric emergency department and to raise awareness about first aid knowledge. Methods: The study was conducted in University of Health Sciences Türkiye, İzmir Tepecik Education and Research Hospital, Clinic of Pediatric Emergency between December 15, 2017 and March 15, 2018. A descriptive and cross-sectional questionnaire was applied to question the socio-demographic characteristics of the parents who participated in the study, the situations requiring first aid encountered by their children and their level of first aid knowledge. Ethics committee approval was obtained (2017-30). Results: The mean age of the 350 parents included in the study was 35.57±8.21 years and 157 of them were male. Sixty-one (17.4%) of the parents had first aid training. It was found that 32.9% of university graduates had first aid training (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the working status of the mother and the caregiving parent and the event requiring first aid (p=0.133, p=0.930, respectively). A significant relationship was found between the educational level of the parents and first aid, and between first aid training and finding oneself competent (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that there was a relationship between the level of education and first aid, first aid training and self-perception of adequacy and the importance of education. First of all, the level of education in the society should be increased, accidents frequently encountered by children should be identified and first aid training should be given to parents.