Improving parental first-aid practices

Every day, children present to emergency departments (EDs) with injuries sustained at home, school and elsewhere. In the authors' experience, little, if any, first-aid measures or administration of pain relief are initiated before arrival at the ED. Articles on accident prevention are easily sourced, but studies of the general population's knowledge of first-aid skills are scarce. This article examines the research on parents' or guardians' pre-hospital knowledge of first aid, analgesia and non-pharmacological methods of pain relief for children who have been injured. It also discusses the literature on accident prevention.