Assessment of First Aid Training among Student Volunteers of Iranian Red Crescent Society, 2007]

First aid education constitutes a major priority area for the Iranian Red Crescent. The present study assessed the student volunteer's knowledge of first aid procedures and their attitudes concerning strategies for community education. In this survey 5626 volunteers were selected based on a complex sampling design, in 5 different provinces of Iran. A total of 3581 students (63.7%) had attended the Red Crescent's first aid training courses. The mean knowledge score of the sample was 9.36 out of a maximum of 18 (CI 95%= 9.29-9.43), with only 674 subjects (11.9%) showing a high level of knowledge. Having training prior attending in this course and higher education were statistically significant related with their knowledge score (p<0.05). The mean score of their attitude was 33.60 out of a maximum of 45 (95% CI = 33.41-33.79), and only it was found to be related to previous training (p = 0.04). IRCS should expand its first aid training for young volunteers. This health educational programs should be supported by multidisciplinary work by governmental organizations such as ministry of education.