Knowledge and practice of secondary school teachers about first aid

BACKGROUND: School students are vulnerable to the risks of accidents and injuries and hence require first aid more often than do adults. The first responsible person to reach an injured student at school is the teacher. AIM: To assess secondary school teachers’ knowledge and practice regarding first aid. METHODOLOGY: Following a cross-sectional descriptive study design in Khamis Mushayt City, Saudi Arabia, 250 secondary school teachers (110 males and 140 females) were included in this study. A self-administered questionnaire designed by the researcher was used for data collection. RESULTS: Main sources of knowledge for secondary school teachers were mass media, physicians, and educational school books. Most teachers are not trained on first aid. About half of the teachers face cases that need first aid, but only half of them provide the necessary first aid. Only 19.6% were knowledgeable regarding first aid, 48.8% faced cases that needed first aid, and only 54.9% of those who faced cases that needed first aid could provide the necessary first aid. Participants’ knowledge grades differed significantly according to their age groups (P = 0.003), gender (P = 0.035), and experience in teaching (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Knowledge and practices of secondary school teachers on first aid need to be improved.