Enhancement of Disaster Management and First Aid Rules for Primary School Teachers in Egypt

Background: Genuine injuries have been reported at schools. Given that schools might not have any trained healthcare providers, teachers will provide first aid to students. Objective(s): To assess knowledge and skills regarding first aid and disaster management among primary school teachers, and evaluate the effectiveness of first aid and disaster management training program on knowledge and skills of those teachers. Methods: Intervention study, in the form of a training program on 43 teachers from two primary schools in Zagazig district, was performed. Evaluation was done through comparing school teachers’ first aid and disaster management knowledge and skills before and after intervention by the use of a questionnaire and an observational checklist. Results: The percent of teachers with satisfactory first aid knowledge increased from 7.0% to 46.5% while for satisfactory practice, the percent increased from 4.7% to 51.2% after intervention. For satisfactory disaster management knowledge, the percent increased from 9.3% to 58.1% while for satisfactory disaster management practice, the percent increased from 2.3% to 23.6% after intervention with a statistically significant difference. Conclusions: First-aid and disaster management training program is an effective tool for improving teachers' knowledge and practice. Recommendation: First aid and disaster management training program should be one of the pre-placement and in service training programs for primary school teachers to protect the life of children. Key Words: Disaster management, first aid, school teachers, training program