Impact of first aid on treatment outcomes for non-fatal injuries in rural Bangladesh: Findings from an injury and demographic census

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

7-12-2017

Journal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Volume

14

Issue

7

DOI

10.3390/ijerph14070762

Keywords

Bangladesh; First-aid treatment; Medically trained providers; Non-fatal injury; Rural; Untrained medical providers

Abstract

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Non-fatal injuries have a significant impact on disability, productivity, and economic cost, and first-aid can play an important role in improving non-fatal injury outcomes. Data collected from a census conducted as part of a drowning prevention project in Bangladesh was used to quantify the impact of first-aid provided by trained and untrained providers on non-fatal injuries. The census covered approximately 1.2 million people from 7 sub-districts of Bangladesh. Around 10% individuals reported an injury event in the six-month recall period. The most common injuries were falls (39%) and cuts injuries (23.4%). Overall, 81.7% of those with non-fatal injuries received first aid from a provider of whom 79.9% were non-medically trained. Individuals who received first-aid from a medically trained provider had more severe injuries and were 1.28 times more likely to show improvement or recover compared to those who received first-aid from an untrained provider. In Bangladesh, first-aid for non-fatal injuries are primarily provided by untrained providers. Given the large number of untrained providers and the known benefits of first aid to overcome morbidities associated with non-fatal injuries, public health interventions should be designed and implemented to train and improve skills of untrained providers.

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