Knowledge towards and Practices on First-Aid and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Following Road Traffic Injury among Traffic Police Officers in Selected Police Divisions in Colombo District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Road traffic injury (RTI) is a leading cause of death in Sri Lanka. Prompt first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can minimize the lethal consequences in RTI. Traffic police officers, who are trained on first-aid and CPR, can play a pivotal role in providing first-aid and CPR for the victims in RTI. This study aimed to examine the knowledge and practices on first-aid and CPR in RTI among traffic police officers in selected police divisions in Colombo district, Sri Lanka. A descriptive crosssectional study was conducted among 148 traffic police officers with minimum one year work experience from three police divisions in Colombo district. A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. In total, 55 and 24 marks were allocated for knowledge and practice sections respectively. Overall score of 0- 49% was considered poor, 50% - 74% as good and 75% and above as excellent. The response rate was 67%. Mean age was 28 (SD= ±6.4). From the total sample, 95% (n=141) was male and 5% (n=7) was female. The results showed, 31.1% (n=46), 52.7% (n=78) and 16.2% (n=24) had excellent, good and poor knowledge respectively. However, 90.5% (n=134) and 9.5% (n=14) had poor and good practice respectively. None of them had excellent practice on first-aid and CPR. Although good level of knowledge was identified, practice in performing first-aid and CPR was poor. It is recommended to plan necessary training programmes by police authorities to improve skills in first-aid and CPR for traffic police officers.