Understanding Patients’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Related to Common Medical Emergencies, and Perspectives of Their Treating Doctors — A Cross-Sectional Study in the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Hospital in India

Aashima Gupta¹, Anurag Aggarwal² and Amit Kumar Gupta³*

¹MD Physician, Final-Year Student, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines
²Head, Department of Emergency Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Noida, India
³Freelance Public Health Expert, Also Working as Senior Medical Director, HCL Healthcare, Noida, India

*Corresponding Author: Amit Kumar Gupta, Freelance Public Health Expert, Also Working as Senior Medical Director, HCL Healthcare, Noida, India.

Received: November 17, 2025; Published: December 18, 2025

Abstract

Background: Early and appropriate pre-hospital care is vital to reduce morbidity and mortality from common medical emergencies. This cross-sectional study assessed patients’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) concerning first aid and pre-hospital care and explored their treating doctors’ perspectives.

Methods: Structured multiple-choice questionnaires were administered to 30 patients (or their attendants) and 10 treating doctors in the Emergency Department (ED) of a tertiary hospital. Data were summarised descriptively, with KAP scoring and thematic analysis from open-ended items.

Results: The mean age of patient respondents was 41.2 years, with equal gender representation. A majority had received no formal first-aid training, and only a small proportion reported administering first aid prior to hospital arrival. Doctors highlighted late arrivals, lack of pre-hospital action, and administrative delays as key challenges.

Conclusions: Notable gaps exist in public first-aid awareness and pre-hospital preparedness. Strengthening community-level first-aid education, simplifying ED administrative procedures, and aligning insurance policies could substantially improve outcomes.

 Keywords: Community Preparedness; Emergency Care; First-Aid; KAP; Pre-Hospital Response

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Citation

Citation: Amit Kumar Gupta., et al. “Understanding Patients’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Related to Common Medical Emergencies, and Perspectives of Their Treating Doctors — A Cross-Sectional Study in the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Hospital in India”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 10.1 (2026): 49-54.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2026 Amit Kumar Gupta., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.