Pre-medical first aid competencies of selected students at the Faculty of Education, Charles University
Abstract
School is a frequent place of accidents. Therefore the author decided to carry out a long-term a qualitative research.
Aims to map the level of selected crisis intervention competencies for pre-medical first aid provision in selected students at the Faculty of Education, Charles University. Group discussions included evaluation of scenarios.
Average ratings given to the scenarios have to be seen as very low in general which again demonstrates certain unfamiliarity of the respondents regarding the illustrated misconduct in providing pre-medical first aid. Only 9 (1.1%) out of 800 respondents correctly identified all medical conditions, found all errors in pre-medical first aid provision and suggested correct practices in all scenarios.
Given the size of the sample and continuation of the research, it is certainly not possible to generalise the presented research. However, the author believes that it is necessary to take very seriously every sign of incompetency which might lead to a professional misconduct of educational professionals and put a child's health or life at risk in a real-life situation at school.
No matter where educational professionals or future teachers are taught pre-medical first aid, be it at the university or elsewhere, the author urges that the acquired knowledge and especially skills be checked using scenarios. The author also recommends placing greater emphasis on practising pre-medical first aid and regular updating of pre-medical first aid practices as recommended by the European Resuscitation Council.