How good are first aiders?

We often tend to think of scientific studies as experiments that can be done in a lab. We imagine of scientists holding test-tubes, culturing cells and undertaking all kinds of complex procedures.

But in reality, science is so much more than that! A scientific study tries to understand what happens in a given situation and thinks about why this might have happened. Many studies don’t take place in a lab but are ‘scientific’ none the less. As we come to the end of this course we wanted to introduce you to an example of a scientific study and to let you have a go at reading and interpreting one such study which is very relevant to first aid.

We’ve found an interesting paper which investigates how effective people are at giving first aid in an emergency situation. The link to the paper is given below. We’d like you to read it and see what you think. Then in the next step you’ll have the opportunity to summarize it in ‘layman’s terms’ and get some feedback on your effort. We hope you enjoy this challenge!

Bystander first aid in trauma – prevalence and quality: a prospective observational study