Investigation of the Teacher's Knowledge and Attitude towards Providing First Aid in the School Environment

• Published in: International journal of caring sciences 2021-05, Vol.14 (2), p.1468-1472
• Main Authors: Vasilopoulos, Aristidis, Panagou, Christina, Mastrogiannis, Dimos, Sarafis, Pavlos, Charalambous, Charalambos, Roupa, Zoe, Siamaga, Eleni
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Airway management; Attitudes; Convulsions & seizures; Data collection; Education; Elementary schools; Fainting; First aid; Foreign bodies; Investigations; Knowledge; Questionnaires; School environment; Secondary schools; Students; Teachers
• ISSN: 1791-5201; 1792-037X

Background: First aid is described as the sum of care interventions which are offered to individuals suffering from acute medical conditions or trauma. The age group that are of high risk of suffering an injury are children and teenagers. In the younger age accidents are a result of the lack of the feeling of danger, in older ages are caused by reckless behaviour, the need to show off and the rebellious nature that characterises their age. Aim: The main aim of the study was to investigate the primary and secondary schools' teachers' knowledge and attitudes level towards the provision of first aid in the school environment. Method: Convenience sample was used in a total of 185 elementary and secondary school teachers from the prefectures of Fthiotida and Fokida in central greece. For the collection of data, an anonymous questionnaire was developed which included 6 demographic questions, the attitudes scale (4 questions) and the knowledge scale (22 questions). The Cronbach a internal consistency index was set at 0.87 for the attitudes scale and at 0.49 for the knowledge scale. Results: Of the total 185 teachers, 58 were male and 127 females, mean age 40-50 years old. The 65.9% of the sample believes that the provision of first aid by non-experts implements legal risks and obligations and 34.1% disagreed with this position. The t-test showed statistically significant correlation (t-test = 3.11, p = 0.002). If a student fell to the ground resulting to loss of consciousness, 63.8% of the teachers responded correctly regarding the procedures and techniques to be followed. In the question of managing a student who suffered an airway obstruction from a foreign body 69.2% answered correctly, 25.4% were unaware of the first aid techniques while 5.4% gave the wrong answer. Conclusions: The study highlights teachers' lack of knowledge regarding basic first aid techniques.