Assessment of First Aid Measures to Control Epistaxis Among Health Care Providers at Tertiary Care Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Background Epistaxis refers to bleeding from the inside of the nose or nasal cavity. It is one of the most prevalent otorhinolaryngology emergencies. It is generally treated with simple conservative measures, although it can sometimes be life-threatening. In most cases, using simple first-aid measures that involve tilting the patient's head forward to reduce the risk of blood aspiration and applying digital compression to the nasal alae and anterior septal area for 10-15 minutes will stop the nosebleeds in 90%-95% of cases. This study aims to assess health care providers' knowledge of epistaxis first-aid measures. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted via an electronic questionnaire of multiple-choice questions. The survey was randomly sent through WhatsApp (Google Inc) to all health care providers and medical students who met the inclusion criteria. The study's inclusion criteria included emergency care providers, primary care providers, otolaryngology and head and neck surgery residents, and second-year medical students. In addition, Oto-HNS residents and medical students were included as a control. Respondents were asked to recognize where to apply nasal compression and what is the correct position of the patient's head during an epistaxis episode. Results Thirty percent of health care providers answered correctly to the site of nose compression, and 66% for the correct head position. When evaluating the answers to both questions collectively, 31% of EM consultant physicians, 18% of EM residents, 24% of FM consultant physicians, 40% of family medicine residents, 13% of ED nurses, 28% of house officers, 69% of Oto-HNS residents and 17% of the second-year medical students responded to both questions correctly. A large proportion of those who responded incorrectly to either of the questions stated they were “very confident” about their response. Conclusion Even though primary and emergency care providers see many epistaxis patients, this study found that the majority of EM consultant physicians, EM residents, ED nurses, FM consultant physicians, FM residents, and house officers surveyed in this study could not identify first-aid measures for epistaxis appropriately. Increased otolaryngology training might help primary and emergency care providers by increasing their understanding of epistaxis first-aid measures often seen in their practices.