Introduction: Snakebite envenoming is an emergency medical condition that predominantly affects rural communities. Despite the high burden of mortality and morbidity, awareness and practice of snakebites preventive and first aid measures are very limited.
Objective: To determine the effectiveness of community intervention on snakebite prevention and first aid measures in a rural area.
Method: This quasi-experimental study was carried out in Kalapara upazilla of Patuakhali district. A total of 125 primary sampling units had been randomly selected. Over the course of eight months, a comprehensive health education package on snakebite prevention and first aid was implemented in thirty community clinic areas. These included community clinic biweekly health education sessions, multipurpose volunteer-led courtyard meetings, seminars at schools and colleges, live street shows by folk singers, poster and leaflet distribution, awareness through radio messages, etc. To measure knowledge and practice, both open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires were utilized. The percentages in change approach has been applied to compare the changes from baseline to midline.
Result: The study enrolled approximately 1500 people at the baseline and 750 respondents at the midline. The study found a 46.9% increase in knowledge regarding the use of mosquito nets while sleeping in bed. While evaluating the knowledge of first aid, it was observed that there was a 31.1% decrease in visiting a traditional healer, a 6.7% decline in using a tourniquet, and 76.1% of the participants knew about the immobilization of bitten limbs after a snake bite. Additionally, there was a rise in the practice of keeping the surrounding bushwalk clean (12.3%), using torches at night (35.6%), tapping the floor with a stick (82.8%), and not putting a hand inside any hole (27.7%). Conversely, in midline, we have also found that people became less cautious while catching fish, handling firewood, and storing poultry and crops in their bedrooms. Meanwhile, a 100.4% increase in health facility visits by snake bite victims is indicative of increased community awareness.
Conclusion: Although intervention measures have influenced the knowledge and practice techniques of snakebite prevention and first aid management, there are also scopes to improve the situation through continuous community engagement.