First-aid training for children in school age - pilot test

Abstract

Frequently we encounter news about accidents and emergencies in the school environment, like children who suffered cardiopulmonary arrest while they were playing, babes who choked and the unchoke maneuvers were not properly performed, toy falls or height during games, which resulted in more severe damage to those children. This work's goal is to test the first-aid guidebook as a teaching material for children aged 6-12 years old. A first-aid guidebook was developed in printed version, with urgency and emergency content, in a playful language and easy to be understood by children. Groups with 12 to 20 DEdIC children were gathered, at the workshop activity times, with duration of 60 minutes. The guidebook topics approach was made orally, with role-plays, maneuvers, dolls and automated external defibrillator. The children performed the unchoke maneuvers of children/babies and the cardiopulmonary resuscitation. 172 children, aged 6-12 years old, participated in total 09 meetings. Children aged 6-7 years old needed a longer time, playful techniques on presentation and attention with the use of dolls. For literate children, the content, strategy and material were adapted to motivate learning. The active participation was unanimous and the guidebook delivery was motivating. This work shows that, with proper materials and method, the early teaching in first aid for children can be implemented.