Abstract:
First aid is the initial care given in an emer-gency, to
protect life and to prevent worsening of the condition
of the victims, until they are undertaken by a professional medical person. This research was done to
assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices on first
aid among advanced level students in government
schools in Gampaha educational zone. A descriptive
cross-sectional study using a pre-tested questionnaire
was self-administered to collect the data among grade
12 students (n=510) in five randomly selected schools.
Chi-square test was used to assess the associations and
a p-value <0.05 was considered as significant. Student’s mean first aid knowledge was 57.4±13.5 while 1%
(n=5) were categorized as having “inadequate knowledge”, 30.6% (n=156), 61.4% (n=313) and 7.1%
(n=36) were having “moderate”, “good” and
“excellent” knowledge respectively. Only 16.9%
(n=86) of the students were previously trained in first
aid. Positive attitudes towards first aid were found and
98.8% students (n=504) believed it is essential to have
first aid knowledge.
