Knowledge and Practice Regarding Basic First-Aid Among Commercial Three-Wheeler Drivers of Colombo District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

First-aid is the immediate care given to an injured person during an accident until proper medical care is provided. Commercial three-wheeler drivers act as first responders because they may be the first to arrive at an accident. This study aims to determine commercial three-wheeler drivers’ knowledge and practice of basic firstaid. A quantitative cross-sectional study was carried out with randomly selected 389 samples from Colombo district, Sri Lanka from January to June, 2021. The proportionate samples were taken from 13 Divisional secretariat divisions in Colombo district. A pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS-20.0 version was used to analyze the collected data. Among participants, 91% (n=389) were males and 9% (n=389) were females. Among them, 45% (n=389) had studied up to advanced level. Most of them, 40.6% (n=389) were taking 1-5 hires per day. Road traffic accidents were witnessed by 54.5% (n=389) of participants more than once. However, 36.2% (n=389) of participants got involved in first-aid. 45% (n=389) of participants were mindful of the “Good Samaritan law” and 69.6% (n=389) were aware of the medical emergency contact number. Only 43.7% (n=389) of participants knew about spinal motion restriction procedures after an accident. Half of the participants 50.4% (n=389) chose ice application over direct pressure to control bleeding. A low proportion, 35.5% (n=389) knew to provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and 13.6% (n=389) had performed CPR at least once. A 30% (n=389) mentioned that they couldn’t recognize situations that require CPR. However, 90.9% (n=389) of participants said they are open to participating in training programs because they believe it will help save lives. Despite being on the front lines of emergencies, commercial threewheeler drivers' knowledge and practice of first-aid were inadequate. Increasing first-aid knowledge can help them avoid severe injuries and save lives.