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Effect of First-Aid Education on First-Aid Preparedness among Secondary School Teachers in Nigeria

Abstract

First-aid preparedness is an important component of school health and safety because secondary school teachers may be among the first adults available to respond when students experience injuries, accidents, sudden illness, or other emergencies during school activities. School environments may expose students and staff to risks such as falls, cuts, burns, sports-related injuries, fainting, seizures, choking, and other medical emergencies. First-aid education provides teachers with knowledge and practical skills for recognizing emergencies, assessing injured or ill individuals, providing appropriate immediate care, preventing further harm, activating emergency services, and referring cases to appropriate healthcare facilities. First-aid preparedness refers to teachers' knowledge, practical skills, confidence, availability of essential first-aid resources, and readiness to respond appropriately to common school emergencies. In Nigeria, inadequate first-aid training, limited access to first-aid supplies, insufficient school health programmes, lack of refresher training, and uncertainty about appropriate emergency procedures may affect teachers' preparedness to respond to school-related emergencies. Effective first-aid education may improve teachers' knowledge, practical skills, confidence, and readiness to provide appropriate immediate assistance. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of first-aid education on first-aid preparedness among secondary school teachers 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 interaction between knowledge, self-efficacy, behavioural capabilities, social influences, and environmental conditions in shaping emergency-response behaviour. The Health Belief Model explains preparedness and preventive behaviour through perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action, providing a basis for understanding teachers' willingness to acquire and apply first-aid skills. The Knowledge-Attitude-Practice framework provides a basis for examining how improved knowledge and attitudes resulting from first-aid education may influence preparedness to respond to emergencies. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how first-aid education may influence first-aid preparedness among secondary school teachers in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. Primary data will be collected from secondary school teachers in selected public and private secondary schools in Nigeria using a structured self-administered questionnaire, a first-aid knowledge assessment, and a practical skills or preparedness checklist. A multistage sampling technique will be employed to select states, local government areas, schools, departments, and eligible secondary school teachers. Where feasible, selected schools or teacher groups will be assigned to intervention and comparison groups. Teachers in the intervention group will receive structured first-aid education covering emergency recognition and assessment, basic life support, bleeding and wound management, burns, fractures and sprains, fainting, seizures, choking, sports-related injuries, poisoning, emergency communication, safe referral procedures, and appropriate use of school first-aid kits. First-aid preparedness will be assessed using indicators such as first-aid knowledge, practical skills, confidence in responding to emergencies, ability to identify appropriate first-aid procedures, awareness of emergency referral pathways, familiarity with first-aid equipment, and readiness to respond to common school emergencies. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize teachers' sociodemographic and professional characteristics, baseline first-aid knowledge, exposure to education, and preparedness levels. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired-sample tests, independent-sample tests, and logistic or multiple regression analysis, will be used to determine the effect of first-aid education on first-aid preparedness. Where appropriate, pre-intervention and post-intervention preparedness scores will be compared. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability of the research instrument, model assumptions, goodness of fit, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that first-aid education has a significant positive effect on first-aid preparedness among secondary school teachers in Nigeria. Teachers exposed to structured first-aid education are expected to demonstrate improved emergency-response knowledge, practical skills, confidence, and readiness to respond appropriately to school-related emergencies. Education may improve teachers' ability to recognize emergencies, provide appropriate immediate care, use first-aid equipment correctly, activate emergency assistance, and refer students appropriately when advanced medical care is required. However, education alone may not guarantee sustained preparedness because teachers may continue to face barriers such as inadequate first-aid kits, insufficient school health personnel, limited refresher training, overcrowded classrooms, and lack of established emergency-response protocols. Consequently, first-aid education is expected to be most effective when supported by adequately equipped first-aid stations, regular refresher training, school emergency-response plans, accessible referral systems, and institutional support for school health and safety programmes. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on school health, emergency preparedness, first aid, injury prevention, health education, occupational safety, child and adolescent health, and public health in Nigeria by providing empirical evidence on the effect of first-aid education on first-aid preparedness among secondary school teachers. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, state ministries of education and health, school management authorities, teacher-training institutions, school health programme coordinators, emergency medical services, public health practitioners, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening first-aid preparedness in Nigerian schools. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating first-aid education into teacher training and professional development programmes, establishing adequately equipped first-aid facilities, conducting regular refresher training, developing school emergency-response protocols, strengthening referral systems, and improving the capacity of secondary school teachers to respond effectively to emergencies across Nigeria.

Keywords: First-aid education, first-aid preparedness, secondary school teachers, school health, emergency preparedness, injury prevention, emergency response, first-aid skills, health education, occupational safety, child health, public health, Nigeria.