Readiness to provide first aid to victims by eyewitnesses of the incident

The purpose of the study. To assess the readiness to provide first aid to victims by eyewitnesses of the incident, from the point of view of the employees of the ambulance station of the city of Krasnoyarsk. Materials and methods. A special questionnaire was developed for the study, including ten questions. The survey involved 213 employees of the ambulance station of the city of Krasnoyarsk (KGBUZ «Krasnoyarsk Ambulance Station») —  47 doctors and 166 paramedics. Results and discussion. According to the surveyed employees of the Krasnoyarsk emergency medical service station, eyewitnesses of the incident are largely unprepared to provide first aid to victims. Only 2.3±2.07% of respondents noted that they often encountered eyewitnesses providing first aid to incidents, the majority (68.1±6.39%) answered «rarely», 20.2±5.50% —  «sometimes», 9.4±4.00% —  «never». Eyewitnesses of the incident were most active in providing first aid in case of injuries (17.1±5.42% of respondents answered «often») and in case of various non-specific conditions (pain syndrome, high blood pressure, temperature, etc.) —  for these cases, the answer «often» was indicated by 15.0±5.14% of respondents. At the same time, only in 16.3±5.73% of cases were the measures taken useful for the victim and had a positive effect on the further work of the medical team. In out-of-hospital circulatory arrest, effective chest compressions were performed only in 5.8±3.98% of cases. This is due to both ignorance of the theoretical foundations of first aid measures and the inability to perform the necessary actions efficiently, as well as an unwillingness to provide any assistance. Thus, 55.9±7.83% of respondents claim that citizens are not consciously interested in first aid courses, considering this activity a waste of time. The overwhelming majority of the surveyed emergency medical workers (91.2%) believe that the population of the Russian Federation needs to be trained in first aid skills. Forming an active position in this regard among the population is the task of the medical community, requiring organizational solutions at the federal and regional levels. Conclusion. It is necessary to form a unified system for organizing and monitoring the training of the population in first aid skills, involving in this work the management bodies of all levels of the health care system, educational medical organizations, the creation of an institute of freelance specialists in first aid to the population, called upon at the local level, in specific regions, to solve the problems of performing this work. These measures will significantly contribute to the achievement of the target indicators voiced in the Concept of First Aid Development in the Russian Federation until 2035 and, ultimately, will significantly increase the chances of saving the life and preserving the health of the victim.

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