ABSTRACT:
Road traffic accidents (RTA) are major public health problems and an important cause of mortality and disability among adolescents and young adults. In many low-and middle-income settings, college students are often the first to witness RTAs, yet their knowledge of first aid is frequently inadequate to provide effective immediate care. This pre-experimental one-group pre-test post-test study assessed the effectiveness of a video assisted teaching module (VATM) regarding first aid management of RTAs among 60 college students at Biju Pattnaik College of Science and Education, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, selected through non-probability convenient sampling. Data were collected using a structured knowledge questionnaire on first aid for wound and hemorrhage, fractures, unconsciousness, head injury and nose bleeding, and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. In the pre-test, 57% of students had poor knowledge, 40% had average knowledge and only 3% had good knowledge, whereas in the post-test 25% had excellent knowledge, 33% had good knowledge and 42% had average knowledge, with no student in the poor category. Area-wise mean knowledge scores improved across all domains; the highest mean percentage increase (35.84%) was in the introduction to first aid, and the lowest (20%) in general first aid management, indicating overall effectiveness of the VATM. Paired t-test showed a highly significant difference between pre- and post-test knowledge scores, while chi-square analysis revealed no significant association between post-test knowledge and selected demographic variables such as age, sex, religion, type of family, residence, parental education, previous exposure to first aid information and source of information. The findings suggest that video assisted teaching is an effective strategy to enhance college students' knowledge on first aid management of RTAs and could be integrated into educational and community-based injury prevention programs.