Conhecimento de alunos de medicina e enfermagem de Fortaleza-CE sobre serpentes e acidentes ofídicos

Abstract

Accidents with venomous snakes still are one of the biggest problems in tropical countries due to their large number of incidents, cases of high severity and the sequelae they cause. First aid done wrongly can cause a worsening of the patient's condition. To avoid this, it is necessary to have a knowledge of the health professionals about how to deal with these accidents. The objective of this study was to verify the knowledge of students of the medical and nursing courses of the Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) and the Universidade Estadual do Ceará (UECE) about primary care in cases of snakebites and venomous snakes, their identification and the effects of their venoms. We applied a questionnaire to students of the medical and nursing course of UFC and UECE. A total of 120 questionnaires were collected. In general, the students know the first aid procedures that must be done and ophidian accidents and have a good knowledge about which venomous snakes exist in Ceará. However, the knowledge about poison action, how to identify and which types of venom were low. The students' semester has a positive relationship with knowledge about first aid in ophidian accidents. The course was related to the knowledge of the number of snake species in Ceará. Where they lived most of the life and type of institution of basic education do not have relation with any of the questions.