ABSTRACT
Objective:To survey the first-aid ability of general practitioners (GPs) and the emergency service capacity of primary health institutions in southern Zhejiang province.Methods:The questionnaire of first-aid ability of GPs in primary care institution was developed on the basis of the Delphi method during August to October 2018. The questionnaire was employed in a survey on the first-aid ability among 480 GPs from 169 community health service centers of three regions in southern Zhejiang province. The survey covered basic information and first-aid skills and emergency response ability of GPs, and the emergency facilities of primary health institutions.Results:A total of 480 questionnaires were distributed and 447 were retrieved with an recovery rate of 93. 1%(447/480). Among the 447 responders, 55.9% (250/447) were males, 70.9% (317/447) had bachelor′s degree or above, and 60.2% (269/447) had middle and senior professional titles. There were 99.6% (445/447), 86.6% (387/447), 76.1% (340/447) and 69.8% (312/447) responders considered cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR), electrical defibrillation, respiratory balloon and endotracheal intubation as important first-aid skills, and corresponding mastery rates were 84.3% (377/447), 32.0% (143/447), 55.2% (247/447) and 12.9% (58/447), respectively. The 92.4% (413/447) responders thought that the rescue ability of common emergency and critical illness was the most important, while only 32.4% (145/447) responders mastered it. Least responders [41.4%(185/447)] thought that ability of using bedside ultrasound was important, and the corresponding mastery rate was only 3.8%(17/447); 77.4%(346/447) of general practitioners believed that CPR machines was important, while the available rate of CPR machines in primary health care institutions was only 16.0%(27/169).Conclusion:The GPs in southern Zhejiang province have a good grasp of cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills, but have a low mastery rate of first-aid skills such as electrical defibrillation, tracheal intubation, and emergency rescue capabilities, which are quite different from their perceived importance evaluation.