Knowledge and practice of primary school teachers about first aid management of selected minor injuries among children

Abstract

Introduction: Children spend most of the time in school where they are exposed to various types of minor injuries, which infl uence their present and future state of health. First aid is the treatment of any injury or illness before availability of professional medical aid. Teacher is the key person who can attend the children for minor injuries in school through complete knowledge regarding fi rst aid management. This study was done among primary school teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching program on knowledge and practice regarding fi rst aid management of selected minor injuries in children. Materials and Methods: A Quasi-experimental study with one group pre-and post-test research design was conducted among the primary school teachers of Dehradun district of Uttarakhand. Fifty primary school teachers were selected by nonprobability convenient sampling. Data were collected by knowledge questionnaire (maximum possible score 42) and self-reporting checklist (maximum possible score 23). Result: Majority (94%) of the teachers were female. Paired sample t-test revealed that the mean posttest knowledge score regarding fi rst aid management of selected minor injuries was signifi cantly higher (34.76 ± 4.35) than that of mean pretest knowledge score (27.32 ± 5.73) (P < 0.005); mean posttest practice score was signifi cantly higher (18.52 ± 2.63) then mean pretest practice score (14.52 ± 2.39) (P < 0.005). There was a signifi cant positive correlation between knowledge score and practice score of participants (r = 0.9; P < 0.001). Conclusion: This concludes that the training program was effective in signifi cant improvement of knowledge and practice score regarding fi rst aid management of selected minor injuries among study participants. Findings stress the need for such training programs, which in turn may enhance the overall health standard of the children.