Current knowledge of burn injury first aid practices and applied traditional remedies: a nationwide survey.
BACKGROUND
Burn first aid awareness has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality. We present a report on the knowledge and practices of the Saudi population with regard to burn first aid and the application of traditional remedies.


METHODS
An internet-based survey was conducted to assess the public's knowledge on first aid practices and home remedies applied for burn injuries among Saudi adults.


RESULTS
A total of 2758 individuals responded to the survey. There were 1178 (42.7 %) respondents who had previously received burn first aid information. One thousand five hundred fifty respondents had a history of burn exposure in which burn injury first aid was applied as follows: 1118 (72.1 %) removed clothing and accessories from the injured area; water was applied by 990 (63.9 %); among those who applied water, 877 (88.6 %) applied cold water; and only 57 (5.8 %) did so for more than 15 min. Wrapping the burn area was performed by 526 (33.9 %), and 985 (63.5 %) sought medical assistance. When it comes to traditional remedies, 2134 (77.4 %) knew of and/or implemented these remedies as first aid or to treat burns. Honey and toothpaste were the commonest among these remedies with 1491 (69.9 %) and 1147 (53.7 %), respectively. This was associated with female gender (r= 0.87,P< 0.001), younger age group (19-25 years) (r= 0.077,P< 0.001), from central region (r= 0.012,P< 0.001), and university graduate (r= 0.05,P= 0.002). Nearly half of those who knew of traditional remedies did not have previous knowledge of burn first aid.


CONCLUSIONS
Proper burn first aid is a simple, cheap, and accessible means of managing burns initially. Although the majority of the respondents were university graduates (51.1 %), knowledge and implementation of burn first aid was very poor. Major healthcare agencies should review and promote a consistent guideline for burn first aid in an effort to tackle and minimize the effect of this grave injury.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine, King Saud University, 37 P. O. Box 7805, Riyadh, 11472 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah E
AE
Kattan
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine, King Saud University, 37 P. O. Box 7805, Riyadh, 11472 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Feras
F
AlShomer
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine, King Saud University, 37 P. O. Box 7805, Riyadh, 11472 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Abdulaziz K
AK
Alhujayri
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine, King Saud University, 37 P. O. Box 7805, Riyadh, 11472 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah
A
Addar
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine, King Saud University, 37 P. O. Box 7805, Riyadh, 11472 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Albaraa
A
Aljerian
Burn; First aid; Practices; Traditional remedies