Abstract
BACKGROUND:
It is well known that police officers (POs) are expected to be the first responders in emergency cases requiring First Aid (FA) such as cardiac arrest.
OBJECTIVE:
Description of practices and educational needs of Hellenic POs in providing FA/Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) in case of medical emergencies and description of the equipment of professional FA kit.
METHODS:
An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017, using a self-administered questionnaire designed to serve the purposes of this particular survey. The instrument consisted of 53 questions (multiple choice and open-ended questions) administered in a convenience sample of 700 POs of the Attica prefecture.
RESULTS:
A sample of 520 POs (constables and lieutenants) completed the questionnaire (response rate = 74.28%). Among the participants, 248 (47.7 %) declared that they had provided FA/CPR in the past, while among those declaring that they had never provided FA/PCR (n = 248), 153 (61.7%) said that they had experienced FA/CPR needs, but did not know what they had to do. Moreover, only 18.1% (94/520) of the POs answered that they have FA equipment in their professional equipment, which mainly includes bandages (54/94, 57.4%), while 29.7% of POs provided answers about their educational needs (313 in total) declared that they would like to be educated in bleeding control.
CONCLUSION:
There is a need to educate and train Greek POs in first aid and CPR in an organized and mandatory way in order to meet emergency needs.
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