Knowledge of First Aid towards Burning Injury among general population in western region Saudi Arabia

Burn injuries are considered one of the major global health issues and the most devastating public health issues due to their severe physical, functional, and psychosocial consequences. The cross-sectional descriptive survey study was conducted among the general population of Mecca, Jeddah, and Taif, Saudi Arabia. The participants were selected using a random sample selection method from December 2020 to March 2021. We included participants living in Mecca, Jeddah, and Taif, aged 18 years old and above. We excluded any participants living outside those cities and aged below 18 years old. Around 64.0% of respondents had previously received burn first-aid information, and (61.8%) had a burn history. After the burn injury, the following first-aid practices were followed by the participants: (74.6%) removed clothing and accessories from the injured area, (58.9%) applied cold water and washed the injured area, and only (1.2%) did so for more than 20 minutes. (45.2%) respondents covered the burn area with a cloth, and (84.3%) sought medical assistance. More than half of our participants had a history of burn injuries, which shows a high prevalence, and most of the participants had performed incorrect first-aid practices, potentially leading to a poor prognosis of the injury, and 83.1% of them did not have a plan for home evacuation in the case of a fire emergency, which would lead to a high morbidity and mortality rate. These results must be seriously considered by healthcare and civil defense departments.