Theoretical Knowledge of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation among Some Nigerian Primary and Secondary School Teachers

Background / Aim of Study: Although the teaching of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to of primary and secondary schools teachers is highly recommended and practiced internationally for the purposes of increasing potential lay person bystander CPR providers for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, effective management of emergency situations in schools as well as teaching of the school children the same, Nigeria is yet to move in this direction. This study aimed at assessing the pre-training and post-training CPR theoretical knowledge of a group of Nigerian teachers.

Study Design: Cohort quasi-experimental study.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt in September 2016.

Methodology: A group of Nigerian primary and secondary schools teachers who came for further education at the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria had their pre-training and post-training CPR theoretical knowledge assessed by a certified CPR instructor. The training was based on the American Heart Association (AHA) conventional CPR teaching standard and a questionnaire was used in the data collation.

Results: Although the pre-training CPR theoretical knowledge of the teachers was very poor, there was statistically significant improvement after the training (P = .000)

Conclusion: Nigerian primary and secondary schools teachers hold promise as potential CPR instructors for school children and public, if well exposed as in advanced parts of the world.