RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Are schoolteachers able to teach first aid to children younger than 6 years? A comparative study
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e005848
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005848
VO 4
IS 9
A1 Christine Ammirati
A1 Rémi Gagnayre
A1 Carole Amsallem
A1 Bernard Némitz
A1 Maxime Gignon
YR 2014
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/9/e005848.abstract
AB 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.