Abstract:

First aid is key to the integrity of people. As known, emergency situations require quick and effective responses.

Acting in the first 4 minutes increases for 5% to 70% the probability of survival. It is extremely important to know both what to do and what not to do, because morbidity and mortality depends on your actions.

Although, the rates of action and ability to respond have increased in Spain in recent years, there is a large gap between us and other European countries. However, despite the presence of these contents in the educational curriculum, they are not usually put into practice.

Despite the fact that these contents can be taught in the classroom, there is another big question: Can this become permanent training in order to achieve significant learning?

Therefore, the general aim of this work was to analyze the knowledge that high school students have over first aid before and after an educational intervention using a traditional strategy compared to an active and innovative strategy.

This is a quantitative study, with a sample of 106 secondary school students from 4 educational centers in the province of Alicante, Spain. The instruments used were a questionnaire that inquired the prior knowledge on first aid and a subsequent theoretical-practical test on first aid specific knowledge in the sessions.

The main results showed an increase in knowledge, interest and importance on the subject matter in both groups, with a significant difference in favor of the innovative style.

The conclusions showed that there was not a high degree of knowledge prior to the educational intervention, despite being aware of the importance of this matter. Both methods improved in comparison to previous knowledge, with the active and innovative strategy being the one that obtained significantly better results than the traditional strategy. After the intervention, students felt empowered to act in an emergency, thus the rates of good performance in emergency situations could increase.

Keywords:

Educational methodologies, secondary education, educational strategies, lifesaving.