Knowledge and Practices Regarding First Aid among School Teachers in the Kurunegala Zonal Educational Division

Abstract

To describe knowledge and practices regarding First Aid among school teachers in the Kurunegala Zonal Educational Division. A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out using a sample of 384 school teachers. Simple random sampling method was used to select the sample and Self administered questionnaires were used to assess knowledge on first aid. Data analysis was conducted with the computer software SPSS version16.0. Most of the participants, 332(86.5%) were female and 52(13.5%) participants were male. Only one fourth (24.0%) of the participants had received first aid training. 94 (24.5%) participants had "very good knowledge" while, 152 participants (39.6%) had "Good knowledge" and 106(27.6%) participants had "Average knowledge" on First Aid. While only 32(8.3%) participants had "Poor knowledge" regarding first aid. The mean average knowledge level on first aid was 68.56%. The mean knowledge level on emergency management was only 50.52%. There was no statistically significant difference in knowledge level when comparing gender and educational status. Statistically significant association was found in knowledge level when comparing age groups, work experience and previous first aid training. The mean knowledge level on first aid was less in the 21-30 year age group, when compared to the other groups (p=0.003). The mean knowledge level on first aid was less in the group with less than 5 years work experience (p=0.002). Participants who had prior training in first aid had better mean knowledge level than those with no training (p=0.002).322 (83.9%) participants claimed that the commonest incident when they had to administer first aid was fainting, while 46 (12%) said blunt injuries. Over 90% of participants had at least an average knowledge level. The knowledge on emergency management needs to be improved. The findings also indicate the need of first aid training programme for school teachers.