FIRST AID IN EDUCATION

Abstract

This article aimed to analyse, through a questionnaire, teachers’ knowledge and opinions regarding basic first aid. Teachers (N=382) from South Bohemia (municipalities with different populations and, with regard to the gender ratio in staff, mostly women) filled out questionnaires between 2017 and 2020. They also mentioned changes in pupils’ health conditions, and these data were compared with anonymized statistical data of the Emergency Medical Service in the same region of the Czech Republic (6% of the Czech Republic’s population, data from August 2018 to June 2019). One third to half of all teachers stated that some health crisis required first aid at school and/or outside school. Teachers caring for older children and adolescents report a lower incidence of cases than pre-primary teachers. Through the questionnaire survey we found (a) significant differences in the mean values of knowledge of first aid in total between all subgroups of teachers (p≤0.05) and (b) in the level of knowledge of first aid for traumas and acute conditions of chronic diseases (p≤0.05; in favour of the non-traumatic acute conditions). But overall, the level of knowledge was insufficient (mean values between 69 % in pre-primary and 84 % in elementary-school teachers in a standard first-aid test). Results show the importance of the inclusion of first aid in the training of teachers in pre-primary, primary, and lower and higher secondary schools. A majority of teachers feel it would be appropriate to provide training in first aid in both traumatic and non-traumatic acute conditions once every two years, predominantly using simulations.