Evaluating the Knowledge and Attitude of Service Providing Personnel of Sari Regarding First Aid; a Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Having sufficient data regarding the knowledge and attitude of individuals towards any planning and appropriate educational interventions with the aim of learning first aid in society is essential. The present study was performed in 2015 for evaluating knowledge and attitude of service providing personnel of Sari, Iran, regarding first aid in 4 occupational groups of police, taxi driver, bus driver, and firefighter. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional one and the study population consists of city taxi and bus drivers, police and firefighters of Sari, Iran, in 2015. Sampling was done via simple random method and with a sample size of 500 individuals. Knowledge and attitude of the participants was evaluated using a questionnaire designed by the researchers and via SPSS software version 22. Results: A total of 500 individuals with an average age of 40.32 ± 8.51 (at least 28 and a maximum of 60) years, all men, participated in this study. Participants of the study had a mean family dimension of 4.1 ± 13.8. Mean attitude score was 11.2 ± 51.8. The highest frequency of obtained score in attitude belonged to 12 and the highest attitude score belonged to firefighting and safety services organization with the mean score of 17.8 and the lowest score belonged to taxi drivers of taxi driving organization with the mean score of 11.2 from the maximum possible score of 20. Mean knowledge score obtained was 7.2 ± 42.7. The highest mean of knowledge belonged to firefighters with the mean score of 11.6 and the lowest score belonged to taxi drivers with the mean score of 7.1 from the maximum possible score of 20. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that level of knowledge and attitude of those providing service to people was not proper regarding first aids and trainings in this regard is not desirable. To improve it, there is a need for schedule planning, retraining classes and trainings at the beginning and during service with concentration on improving the skills.