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Medical Students Can be Trained to be Life-Saving First Aid Instructors for Laypeople: A Feasibility Study from Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2019

Anas Ismail Open the ORCID record for Anas Ismail [Opens in a new window] ,
Maisara AlRayyes ,
Mohammed Shatat ,
Rajai Al Hafi ,
Hanne Heszlein-Lossius ,
Guido Veronese  and
Mads Gilbert
Anas Ismail*
Affiliation:
Palestine Faculty of Medicine at Al Azhar University- Gaza, Palestine
Maisara AlRayyes
Affiliation:
Palestine Faculty of Medicine at Al Azhar University- Gaza, Palestine
Mohammed Shatat
Affiliation:
Palestine Faculty of Medicine at Al Azhar University- Gaza, Palestine
Rajai Al Hafi
Affiliation:
Palestine Faculty of Medicine at Al Azhar University- Gaza, Palestine
Hanne Heszlein-Lossius
Affiliation:
The Anaesthesia and Critical Care Research Group, Institute of Clinical Medicine, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Guido Veronese
Affiliation:
Department of Human Sciences & Education, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
Mads Gilbert
Affiliation:
The Anaesthesia and Critical Care Research Group, Institute of Clinical Medicine, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway Clinic of Emergency Medicine, The University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway
*
Correspondence: Anas Ismail, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University-Gaza, Jamal Abdl Naser St., Gaza, Gaza Strip, Palestine, Gaza P.O. Box 1277, E-mail: anasismail1995@gmail.com
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Abstract

Introduction:

Bystanders can improve the outcome in emergencies by activating the “chain of survival.” Gaza’s (Palestine) population has little, if any, access to training in Basic Life Support (BLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The goal was to recruit local medical students to be life-saving first aid instructors, and have them train 3,000 laypeople in BLS and CPR.

Methods:

One hundred and seventeen medical students from Al Azhar University-Gaza (Gaza City, Palestine) were trained as BLS and CPR instructors. Twelve training hours were delivered in practical BLS and CPR skills, plus four in communication and didactical skills, to enable training of laypeople. Students answered a questionnaire exploring demographics, prior training experience, expectations, and motivation to join the training. Teaching material were developed after the European Resuscitation Council (ERC; Niel, Belgium) guidelines and similar training at The Arctic University of Norway (Tromsø, Norway).

Results:

A total of 117 medical students (52.1% female; 47.9% male), from third through sixth year, completed training, and all were in their early twenties. Ninety-five (81.2%) agreed to answer the questionnaire. Of those, five students lost family members during Israeli military operations. Eighty-two (70.1%) never had hands-on first aid training. Seventy-six (80.0%) hoped the training would improve their community’s response to emergencies. With 58 training sessions completed, 1,312 laypeople (596 males; 716 females) were trained: 5.52 lay trainees per student instructor. The majority (n = 1,012; 77.1%) were school students aged 13–20 years.

Conclusion:

It is feasible to recruit local medical students for practical BLS and CPR trainings targeting laypeople in communities under stress. The training impact on local resilience and patients’ outcomes need further studies.

Keywords

emergency careGazalaypeoplemedical studentsprehospitaltraining
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 34 , Issue 6 , December 2019 , pp. 604 - 609
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019 

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