INTRODUCTION:

As we are approaching the 21^st century the need for “First aid” is necessary due to the alarming increase in road traffic accidents, fire accidents, suicidal attempts etc. The current statistics shows that globally over 20 million people are injured or crippled and over one million killed due to road traffic crashes each year. Developing countries account for more than 85% of all fatalities and over 90% of disability adjusted life year (DALYs) loss due to road traffic injuries.

More than 50% of global mortality due to road traffic accidents occur among young adults, aged 15 – 44. These lives could be saved and disability minimized if the general public is aware how to give first aid. India has the highest number of road accidents in the world. With over 150,000 deaths annually; the country has overtaken China. In India, the death toll rose to 14 per hour in 2009 as opposed to 13 the previous year. The total number of deaths every year due to road accidents has now passed the 1, 35,000 marks. Auto rickshaws are playing a vital role in the means of transportation, especially for school children. These auto drivers are used to fill the students more than the seating capacity which leads to the many road accidents, injuries and death. For such a way driver should be adequately trained with emergency first aid measures for treating the victims in the road side.

Sara Elias (2010) conducted the quasi experimental study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme regarding knowledge and practice of first aid for road traffic accident victims among Bangalore transport corporation drivers (50). The level of knowledge was assessed by self administered questionnaire and the level of practice was assessed by modified 5 point likert scale. The study concluded that there was a significant improvement in knowledge and practice of drivers in post test after structured teaching programme.

Devan Prabhudoss J (2008) conducted the study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge, attitude and skills first aid management among rural youth in Vellore. The level of knowledge, skills and attitude was assessed by the structured interview schedule, observational check list and attitude scale. Structured teaching programme administered only to experimental group. After the teaching programme, there was a significant increase in knowledge (76% adequate knowledge), skills (100% adequate skill) and attitude (97% favorable attitude) among the experimental group. There was a positive correlation between knowledge and attitude among experimental group. But the control group had inadequate knowledge and moderate attitude on first aid management. This shows that the effectiveness of structured teaching programme.

Goniewicz M.et al (2002) conducted the study on first aid among the drivers in the city of Lublin. The questionnaire was given to 560 employees of local government institutions in the city of Lublin either professional or non-professional drivers. The direct method and anonymous questionnaire were used. The results of the questionnaire revealed clearly that very few drivers are well-prepared to give proper first aid at the accident site. No matter what sex, education or driving experience, the drivers have not got enough skills to give first aid and the effect is enhanced by various psychological barriers

Sosada K (2002) conducted a study to evaluate the knowledge of teachers and high school students in Silesia on the principles of first aid. The study revealed that 7 students achieved an excellent result, 57 had good result and 168 had inadequate level of knowledge. None of teachers achieved an excellent result, 11 teachers had a good result and 63 had inadequate level of knowledge, which shows that the knowledge of secondary school students and teachers were insufficient to perform basic life support.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the existing knowledge and attitude on first aid management among auto drivers.

2. To determine the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on knowledge and attitude regarding first aid management among auto drivers.

3. To find out the difference between post test knowledge and attitude of auto drivers regarding first aid management.

4. To find the association between post test knowledge and attitude with selected demographic variables.

ASSUMPTIONS:

Planned teaching programme will improve the knowledge and promote a better attitude on first aid management among auto drivers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Research approach:

The research approach used for this study is quantitative approach.

Research design:

A Pre experimental research design was adopted for this study.

Target population:

The target population was auto drivers of Madurai Railway Junction, Tamilnadu.

Research setting:

The study was conducted at Madurai Railway Junction auto stand, Tamilnadu.

Sampling technique

In this study, samples were the auto drivers in Madurai railway junction. The sample size for this study was arbitrarily determined to be 50. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples..

CRITERIA FOR SAMPLE SELECTION:

Inclusion criteria:

The auto drivers’ population who were:

· Between 20-50 years.

· Available at the time of data collection.

· Able to understand Tamil or English.

· Willing to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria:

The auto drivers’ population who were

· Not working as a private auto driver.

· Not able to hear, understand and respond to the conversation due to any effect.

Variables:

Independent variable:

Planned teaching programme

Dependent variable:

Knowledge and attitude of auto drivers.

Tool and method of data collection:

Part I:

It consists of 11 questions about demographic profile such as age, educational status, marital status, Income, religion, experience, previous exposure to first aid information, source of information, previous experience about first aid and availability of first aid box in vehicle.

Part II:

A well structured questionnaire which consists of 30 multiple choice questions regarding knowledge on first aid management for selected conditions.

Part III:

It consists of checklist to assess the attitude regarding first aid management among auto drivers. It consists of 10 statements with 5 point Likert scale.

SCORING PROCEDURE:

Part II:

The questions were of multiple choice formats. The multiple choice questions has one right answer, which was allotted a score of “one” for right answer and wrong answer was given the score of “zero”. The total attainable score in the knowledge questionnaire was 30.

The knowledge score was classified as follows

0 – 50% - Inadequate knowledge

51 – 75% - Moderate knowledge

76 – 100% - Adequate knowledge

Part – III:

It includes statements on attitude among auto drivers regarding first aid management. There are totally 10 statements. The items will be measured on a 5 point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The maximum score for measuring attitude of auto drivers was 50.

Attitude score was interpreted as follows,

	Strongly Agree	Agree	Un-certain	Dis-agree	Strongly disagree
Positive Statement	5	4	3	2	1
Negative Statement	1	2	3	4	5

For the purpose of the study score was divided in to

81 - 100% - Positive attitude

61 – 80% - Neutral attitude

0 – 60 % - Negative attitude

PILOT STUDY:

The pilot study was conducted during the month of July 2011 at Pasumalai, Madurai town among 10 auto drivers to evaluate the effectiveness of planned teaching programme and to find out the feasibility of conducting the main study.

RELIABILITY OF THE TOOL:

Reliability was checked by split-half method. The Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation was computed and the reliability was found as 0.9. so the tool was highly reliable.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE:

Data was collected among auto drivers for a period of six weeks. Purpose of the study was explained to the auto stand authorities. Purposive sampling technique was used for collecting samples. The sample size includes 50 auto drivers. The investigator approached the concerned authorities of auto stand and Tami Nadu consumer protection centre and NANBAN Trust for a convenient date and time for conducting the planned teaching programme. The auto drivers were gathered in Tamil Nadu consumer protection centre, Madurai Railway Junction and the teaching program was administered after the needed explanation. The post test was administered to the same group with same structured questionnaire after one week of the planned teaching programme.

PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS:

Research proposal was approved by the dissertation committee of C.S.I.Jeyaraj Annapackiam College of Nursing, Paumalai, Madurai. Prior to the pilot and the main study, permission was sought from the head of the Community health nursing department. A formal consent was obtained from the respondents of the study (auto drivers) before administering the questionnaire.

PLAN FOR DATA ANALYSIS:

The data was analyzed in terms of the objectives of the study using descriptive and inferential statistics. The plan of data analysis was follows

1. Organize the data in a master data sheet

2. Frequency and percentage distribution were used to analyze the demographic data for auto drivers.

3. Frequency and percentage distribution were used to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of first aid management among auto drivers.

4. Mean, mean percentage, standard deviation and ‘t’ test were used to assess and compare the pretest and posttest knowledge and attitude

5. Correlation of post test knowledge and attitude measured through Karl Pearson formula

6. Chi-square test was used to determine the association between the knowledge and attitude level of auto drivers with selected demographic variables.

MAJOR FINDINGS:

1. The study revealed that all auto drivers 50 (100%) had inadequate knowledge regarding first aid in pre test. In post test 33 (66%) drivers had adequate knowledge and 17 (34%) drivers had moderate knowledge regarding first aid.

2. The study revealed that 35(70%) auto drivers had negative attitude and 15(30%) had neutral attitude regarding first aid in pre test. In post test 45 (90%) had positive attitude and 5 (10%) drivers had neutral attitude regarding first aid.

3. The obtained “t” value for knowledge (30.65) was found to be highly significant at the level of p < 0.05. It is inferred that the auto drivers exposed to the planned teaching programme had significant increase in post test knowledge.

4. The obtained‘t’ value for attitude (17.5) was found to be highly significant at the level of p < 0.05. It is inferred that the auto drivers exposed to the planned teaching programme had significant increase in post test Attitude.

5. The obtained knowledge mean score was 45.36 with a standard deviation of 5.7 and obtained attitude mean score was 43.3 with standard deviation of 3.8. The ‘r’ value was 0.55 (p<0.05) which was positive relationship between post test knowledge and attitude

6. There was no significant association between knowledge and attitude with selected demographic variables like age, educational status, marital status, experience, income, prior information about first aid, previous experience about first aid management and availability of first aid box in vehicle.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

My study is dedicated to My guide Dr. John Sam Arun Prabhu, H.O.D of community department, C.S.I.JACON and my family members.

REFRENCES:

1. Andrew, K. (1992), First aid manual St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association and the British Redcross, London.

2. Gupta (2000), Manual of first aid management, London, (1^st ed.), Lippincott publishers.

3. Akpek EA (2003), Knowledge of basic life support: a pilot study of Turkish Population by Baskest University In Ankara, Nightingale Nursing Times, 58(2) 187-192.

4. Anne Covell (2005), Raising Awareness of the Issues Surrounding Heart Failure, Nursing Times, 101 (7), 28-29.

5. Gail M (2006), Getting at CPR, New AHA guidelines emphasize basic life support, American Journal Of Nursing, 106 (2), 19.

6. Margaret. G, (1994) first aid emergency care from www.medicfirst aid.com

Received on 28.12.2016 Modified on 01.01.2017

Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2017; 5(2):119-122.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2017.00026.9