Objective  To understand the emergency literacy level of Chinese college students and its influencing factors, so as to provide theoretical basis for improving the emergency literacy level and ability of college students.

  Methods  From February to March 2021, a self-made questionnaire on the level of emergency literacy was used to conduct an online questionnaire survey on 1 860 college students nationwide by convenience sampling and snowball sampling, and the factors that may affect the level of emergency literacy of these college students were analyzed.

  Results  The recovery rate of the questionnaire was 98.5% (1 832/1 860). The overall score M(Q₁, Q₃) of these students was 4.30 (3.90, 4.70). The score in the public health dimension was the highest, while the score in the natural disaster dimension was the lowest. Multivariate logistic regression showed that college students in western China (OR = 1.478), with healthy body (OR = 3.334), actively learning emergency knowledge (OR = 2.493), paying attention to emergency reports (OR = 3.556), having first aid medicines and kits at home (OR = 1.499), participating in emergency training in the past two years (OR = 1.329) and thinking it necessary to participate in emergency drills and training (OR = 3.034) had higher emergency literacy levels (P < 0.05). The network (92.69%) was the most important way for college students to acquire emergency knowledge.

  Conclusions  The emergency literacy of Chinese youth was slightly above the average level. The concept of emergency safety of the college students should be further strengthened, the education methods of emergency knowledge should be innovated, and it is necessary to encourage students to actively participate in social practice to spread emergency knowledge.