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Effect of Community Safety Education on Emergency Contact Awareness among Residents of Informal Settlements in Nigeria

Abstract

Emergency contact awareness is an important component of community preparedness and public safety, particularly in informal settlements where residents may face increased exposure to fires, road traffic injuries, flooding, violence, medical emergencies, building-related incidents, and other hazards. Residents of informal settlements in Nigeria may experience difficulties accessing emergency services because of limited awareness of appropriate emergency contacts, poor communication infrastructure, unfamiliarity with emergency-response procedures, limited trust in emergency services, and challenges associated with informal settlement environments. Community safety education provides an opportunity to improve residents' knowledge of emergency contacts, appropriate reporting channels, and actions to take during emergencies. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of community safety education on emergency contact awareness among residents of informal settlements in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Protection Motivation Theory, and Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how residents' perceptions of susceptibility to emergencies, perceived severity of potential consequences, perceived benefits of contacting emergency services, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action may influence emergency contact awareness and preparedness. Protection Motivation Theory emphasizes threat appraisal, coping appraisal, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and perceived response costs in shaping protective responses to emergencies. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of individual, household, community, environmental, infrastructural, institutional, and socioeconomic factors on emergency preparedness and access to emergency services. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how community safety education may influence emergency contact awareness among residents of informal settlements in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise adults aged 18 years and above residing in selected informal settlements across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, urban local government areas, informal settlements, residential clusters, households, and eligible residents. Community safety education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to safety education sessions, frequency and duration of education, information on emergency contacts, emergency-response agencies, appropriate reporting channels, procedures for contacting emergency services, information to provide during an emergency call, fire and medical emergency reporting, road traffic incident reporting, flood and disaster reporting, personal safety emergencies, location identification, use of mobile phones during emergencies, and appropriate actions while awaiting emergency assistance. Emergency contact awareness will be assessed using indicators such as ability to identify appropriate emergency contact numbers or channels, recognition of relevant emergency-response agencies, knowledge of when to contact emergency services, ability to provide accurate location information, knowledge of appropriate reporting procedures, awareness of alternative emergency communication channels where available, and ability to distinguish genuine emergency services from inappropriate or unreliable contacts. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized emergency-preparedness assessment tools, scenario-based questions, community safety observation checklists, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize residents' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, previous emergency experiences, sources of safety information, access to mobile phones and communication networks, exposure to community safety education, and emergency contact awareness. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of community safety education on emergency contact awareness. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, emergency contact-awareness scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison community to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that community safety education has a significant positive effect on emergency contact awareness among residents of informal settlements in Nigeria. Residents exposed to structured, practical, locally relevant, and sustained community safety education are expected to demonstrate greater awareness of appropriate emergency contacts and reporting procedures than residents without comparable exposure. Education may improve residents' ability to identify appropriate emergency services, recognize situations requiring urgent assistance, provide accurate location information, and communicate essential details during emergency calls. Scenario-based education may also strengthen residents' confidence in responding appropriately to fires, medical emergencies, road traffic incidents, flooding, and other common hazards. Community education may encourage residents to save relevant emergency contacts on their mobile phones and share emergency information with household members and neighbours. However, unreliable communication networks, limited mobile-phone access, language and literacy barriers, distrust of emergency services, poor road access, inadequate emergency-response infrastructure, and previous negative experiences with emergency services may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects accessible, practical, culturally appropriate, and sustained community safety education, supported by reliable communication systems and responsive emergency services, to contribute significantly to improved emergency contact awareness among residents of informal settlements in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on community safety education, emergency preparedness, emergency contact awareness, disaster risk reduction, informal settlements, emergency communication, community resilience, injury prevention, health education, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Emergency Management Agency, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Police Force, emergency medical services, state emergency management agencies, local government authorities, community leaders, healthcare providers, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening emergency preparedness in underserved communities. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for improving community safety education, increasing awareness of appropriate emergency contacts, strengthening emergency communication channels, conducting community emergency drills, improving residents' knowledge of emergency reporting procedures, and developing sustainable community-based preparedness interventions that facilitate timely access to emergency assistance in informal settlements across Nigeria.

Keywords: Community safety education, emergency contact awareness, informal settlements, emergency preparedness, emergency communication, disaster risk reduction, community resilience, health education, emergency services, Nigeria, public health.