Are schoolteachers able to teach first aid to children younger than 6 years? A comparative study.

OBJECTIVES

This study was designed to assess the knowledge acquired by very young children (<6 years) trained by their own teachers at nursery school. This comparative study assessed the effect of training before the age of 6 years compared with a group of age-matched untrained children.

SETTING

Some schoolteachers were trained by emergency medical teams to perform basic first aid.

PARTICIPANTS

Eighteen classes comprising 315 pupils were randomly selected: nine classes of trained pupils (cohort C1) and nine classes of untrained pupils (cohort C2).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The test involved observing and describing three pictures and using the phone to call the medical emergency centre. Assessment of each child was based on nine criteria, and was performed by the teacher 2 months after completion of first aid training.

RESULTS

This study concerned 285 pupils: 140 trained and 145 untrained. The majority of trained pupils gave the expected answers for all criteria and reacted appropriately by assessing the situation and alerting emergency services (55.7-89.3% according to the questions). Comparison of the two groups revealed a significantly greater ability of trained pupils to describe an emergency situation (p<0.005) and raise the alert (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows the ability of very young children to assimilate basic skills as taught by their own schoolteachers.