Objective  To understand the level of emergency first aid skills and influencing factors among preschool teachers and caregivers in childcare institutions and to provide a basis for actively carrying out targeted knowledge and skill training.

Methods  In March 2023, 258 preschool teachers and caregivers were surveyed using a self-designed questionnaire from 12 kindergartens in Dongxihu District, Wuhan City, using the stratified cluster sampling method. A multifactorial unconditional logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of emergency first aid skills level among preschool teachers and caregivers.

Results  A total of 254 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective response rate of 98.4%. In the past three months, 55.0% (132/240, kindergarten teachers and caregivers) of the surveyed respondents reported accidental injuries to young children in school, mainly including falls and bumps, nosebleeds, and sports sprains.97.6% (248/254) believed that it was necessary for them to learn first aid skills, and 96.9% (246/254) had learned relevant first aid skills. Among them, 147 individuals mastered emergency first aid skills with an overall mastery level of 57.9%. The top three skills mastered with high skills and composition were emergency first aid for arm fractures, with 252 people (99.2%); first aid for food entering the trachea by mistake, with 249 people (98.0%); treatment for cardiac arrest, with 246 people (96.9%); and the least understanding of the correct steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, with only 70 people (27.6%). Multifactorial unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that, compared with preschool teachers and caregivers with over 10 years of work experience, those with less than 2 years (OR=0.360) and 2-4 years (OR=0.200) of work experience had a lower mastery level (P < 0.05). Compared with preschool teachers and caregivers who had not learned relevant first aid skills, those who had learned them had a higher mastery level (OR=12.486, P < 0.05). Compared with preschool teachers and caregivers working in agricultural production and construction areas, those working in non-agricultural production and construction areas had a higher mastery level (OR=2.818, P < 0.05).

Conclusions  The level of emergency first aid skills among preschool teachers and caregivers in kindergartens in this district was relatively low. The priority of innovative and effective training should be given to preschool teachers and caregivers working in rural and new-construction areas, or not learning relevant skills or having shorter work experience, in order to strengthen their emergency first aid skills.