Preventing unintentional injuries in US early care and education: Are state regulations sufficient?

[Knowledge and attitudes on first aid and basic life support of Primary and Preschool teachers and parents]

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of first aid (FA) of primary and pre-school teachers and the parents of children in these education stages.

METHODS

A questionnaire already used in previous publications was employed and consisted of 4 sections: 1) general information; 2) assessment of FA knowledge; 3) questions about FA, and 4) attitudes about FA. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail in Google Forms format to different education centres of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. The centres were asked to send them to the school staff and parents of the pupils so that they could be completed.

RESULTS

A total of 470 questionnaires were analysed (177 teachers; 242 parents and 51 teachers with children). More than half (268, 57%) of the participants stated to have knowledge of FA. In the case of the teachers, a relationship was found between having this information and teaching these contained in the classroom (P=.008). Only 4 participants managed to arrange the basic life support sequence, and none of them correctly answered the questions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation. More than 95% of the sample considered it necessary to include FA in the school curriculum and in the study plans of degrees destined for teacher training.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of teachers and parents had training in FA, although none of them responded correctly to the questions related to basic life support. The inclusion of these contents in school curricula would be recommendable, but it requires training the teaching staff beforehand. The inclusion of these contents in university study plans should be a measure to take into account.