Teacher’s Competence in First-Aid Management of Giddiness in School Children

Lakshana R; Prabakaran S; Namasivaya Navin R B; Balaji D; Gowthame K; Rajasekaran S; Muthukumar R; Sarath Kumar B

Lakshana R Junior Resident, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Prabakaran S Associate Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Namasivaya Navin R B Assistant Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Balaji D Assistant Professor, epartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Gowthame K Assistant Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Rajasekaran S Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Muthukumar R Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu
Sarath Kumar B Senior Resident, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu

Keywords: Giddiness, Children, School Teachers, Awareness, First Aid

Abstract

Introducti on: Giddiness in children might interfere with daily tasks, make it diffi cult to go to school. Causes of pediatric giddiness are diffi cult to elucidate and manage. Parents and educators can off er valuable informati on regarding the symptomology and other signs associated with this conditi on, like nystagmus, altered consciousness, gait abnormaliti es, motor skills changes. Teachers are the fi rst responders involved with
the safety and well-being of their students.
Objecti ve: To evaluate school personnel’s knowledge of handling first aid for giddiness.
Methodology: A pretested semi-structured questi onnaire was used to collect data from research parti cipants from 3 randomly selected schools located in the urban area of Chengalpatt u district, Tamil Nadu. The diff erence in mean scores was used to assess the eff ect of the awareness program, and a paired t test was used for signifi cant diff erences.
Results: Before the session, only 16% of respondents believed it was appropriate to send the student to the emergency room when giddiness lasted > 10 minutes or was accompanied by loss of consciousness, and only 21% of respondents wanted a child experiencing giddiness to be escorted to a staff nurse or medical team. Aft er the session, about 5.7% teachers felt that there is no need for health educati on about giddiness among students as they might use the knowledge for self- medication and conceal the problem from the knowledge of parents.
Conclusion: Giddiness among school children can be bett er managed by providing fi rst aid in emergency rooms by teachers, however more studies with larger populati ons and raising awareness in schools is required.

How to cite this arti cle:
Lakshana R, Prabakaran S, Namasivaya Navin
R B, Balaji D, Gowthame K, Rajasekaran S,
Muthukumar R, Sarath K B. Teacher’s Compe-
tence in First-Aid Management of Giddiness in
School Children. Epidem Int. 2024;9(3):13-17

DOI: htt ps://doi.org/10.24321/2455.7048.202406

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Teacher’s Competence in First-Aid Management of Giddiness in School Children

Abstract

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