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Influence of First-Aid Education on First-Aid Skills among Commercial Drivers in Nigeria

Abstract

Road traffic injuries remain an important public health and road-safety concern in Nigeria, and commercial drivers may be among the first persons present at the scene of road traffic crashes and other emergencies. Their ability to provide appropriate immediate assistance before the arrival of trained emergency responders may influence the safety and outcomes of injured persons. First-aid education provides commercial drivers with knowledge and practical training on basic emergency response, scene safety, recognition of life-threatening conditions, bleeding control, management of fractures and suspected spinal injuries, treatment of burns, recovery positioning, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and appropriate activation of emergency medical services. First-aid skills refer to the practical ability of individuals to assess an emergency situation, protect themselves and victims from further harm, provide appropriate immediate assistance, and seek professional emergency care when required. Among commercial drivers in Nigeria, inadequate first-aid skills may be associated with limited access to formal first-aid training, misconceptions about emergency care, lack of practical experience, and insufficient awareness of appropriate responses to road traffic injuries and other emergencies. Effective first-aid education may improve drivers' knowledge, confidence, and ability to perform appropriate first-aid procedures. Against this background, this study investigates the influence of first-aid education on first-aid skills among commercial drivers in Nigeria. The study is anchored on Social Cognitive Theory, the Health Belief Model, and the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice framework. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes the importance of knowledge, observational learning, self-efficacy, practical experience, and environmental factors in developing and performing first-aid skills. The Health Belief Model provides a framework for understanding drivers' willingness to respond to emergencies through perceived susceptibility to road traffic injuries, perceived severity, perceived benefits of first-aid response, perceived barriers, and cues to action. The Knowledge-Attitude-Practice framework provides a basis for examining how first-aid education may improve knowledge and attitudes and translate these improvements into practical emergency-response skills. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how first-aid education may influence first-aid skills among commercial drivers in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. Primary data will be collected from commercial drivers in selected transport terminals, motor parks, and driver associations in Nigeria using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire, first-aid knowledge assessment, and standardized practical first-aid skills checklist. A multistage sampling technique will be employed to select states, local government areas, transport terminals or motor parks, driver associations, and eligible commercial drivers. Where feasible, selected driver groups or transport locations will be assigned to intervention and comparison groups. Drivers in the intervention group will receive structured first-aid education combining theoretical instruction with practical demonstrations and supervised skills training. Training will cover emergency scene assessment, personal and victim safety, activation of emergency services, bleeding control, management of fractures and suspected spinal injuries, burns, choking, recovery position, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and appropriate handling of road traffic crash victims. First-aid skills will be assessed through practical demonstrations using standardized scenarios and skills checklists covering correct assessment, appropriate sequence of actions, technique, safety precautions, and timely activation of emergency assistance. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, driving experience, previous first-aid training, first-aid knowledge, and practical skill scores. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired-sample tests, independent-sample tests, and multiple regression analysis, will be used to determine the influence of first-aid education on first-aid skills. Where appropriate, skills performance before and after the intervention will be compared. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability of the research instruments, model assumptions, goodness of fit, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that first-aid education has a significant positive influence on first-aid skills among commercial drivers in Nigeria. Drivers exposed to structured first-aid education with practical demonstrations are expected to demonstrate improved ability to assess emergency situations, control bleeding, position injured persons appropriately, perform basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, manage burns and other common injuries, and activate emergency medical services appropriately. Practical, scenario-based training is expected to improve drivers' confidence and competence in responding to emergencies at road traffic crash scenes. The study is also expected to demonstrate that practical skills training is particularly important because theoretical knowledge alone may not guarantee correct performance during an emergency. However, sustained first-aid competence may be affected by limited opportunities for refresher training, availability of first-aid kits, fear of responding to emergencies, uncertainty about emergency procedures, and inadequate emergency-response infrastructure. Consequently, first-aid education may be most effective when supported by periodic refresher training, practical skills assessment, accessible first-aid kits in commercial vehicles, effective emergency communication systems, and stronger collaboration between transport authorities, driver associations, health institutions, and road-safety agencies. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on first-aid education, emergency preparedness, road safety, occupational health, injury prevention, emergency care, health education, and public health in Nigeria by providing empirical evidence on the influence of first-aid education on practical first-aid skills among commercial drivers. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Road Safety Corps, state transport authorities, transport unions and associations, driver-training institutions, emergency medical services, public health practitioners, health educators, healthcare professionals, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving immediate emergency response to road traffic injuries. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating practical first-aid training into commercial-driver licensing and retraining programmes, conducting periodic competency assessments, improving availability of first-aid kits in commercial vehicles, strengthening emergency-response awareness, and promoting effective first-aid response among commercial drivers in Nigeria.

Keywords: First-aid education, first-aid skills, commercial drivers, Nigeria, emergency preparedness, road safety, road traffic injuries, emergency care, first-aid training, occupational health, injury prevention, health education, emergency response, public health.