Are our teachers knowledgeable towards pre hospital emergency care: A study from South India

Background: School children stay a significant hour of the day in their school and are the medium through which information can be carried to their parents and other family members, about basic information regarding Pre-Hospital Care. Objectives: To determine the awareness about Pre-Hospital care among school teachers in Mangalore and to determine how many teachers have received formal training in Pre-Hospital care. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among school teachers in 5 schools across Mangalore. Convenience sampling was done. Data was obtained from 118 school teachers across five schools in Mangalore, India using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: It was observed that 61.9% of teachers knew that personal protective equipment has to be worn while giving first aid to someone. Knowledge of school teachers about choking, allergic reactions, heart attacks and hypoglycemic state was considerably better while 94.9% of school teachers knew how to handle a person in a hypoglycemic state. Most teachers, i.e. 93.2% of teachers knew the signs and symptoms of trauma to the head. However only 49.2% teachers knew how to handle nosebleeds. Only 17.8% teachers knew that an allergic reaction to a bee sting must be washed for at least 30 min. Only 57 participants had received previous training in Pre-hospital care. Out of these, 43.8% received training from nurses and 33.3% from paramedical staff. Conclusion: The proportion of school teachers who have received pre hospital training in the recent past was low, their knowledge regarding first aid care was found to be adequate.