School-Based Prevention Program Associated With Increased Short- and Long-Term Retention of Safety Knowledge

Abstract

Validation of program effectiveness is essential in justifying school-based injury prevention education. Although Risk Watch (RW) targets burn, fire, and life safety, its effectiveness has not been previously evaluated in the medical literature. Between 2007 and 2012, a trained fire service public educator (FSPE) taught RW to all second grade students in one public school district. The curriculum was delivered in 30-minute segments for 9 consecutive weeks via presentations, a safety smoke house trailer, a model-sized hazard house, a student workbook, and parent letters. A written pre-test (PT) was given before RW started, a post-test (PT#1) was given immediately after RW, and a second post-test (PT#2) was administered to the same students the following school year (ranging from 12 to 13 months after PT). Students who did not complete the PT or at least one post-test were excluded. Comparisons were made by paired t-test, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. After 183 (8.7%) were excluded for missing tests, 1,926 remaining students scored significantly higher (P = .0001) on PT#1 (mean 14.8) and PT#2 (mean 14.7) than the PT (mean 12.1). There was 1 FSPE and 36 school teachers with class size ranging from 10 to 27 (mean 21.4). Class size was not predictive of test score improvement (R = 0%), while analysis of variance showed that individual teachers trended toward some influence. This 6-year prospective study demonstrated that the RW program delivered by an FSPE effectively increased short-term knowledge and long-term retention of fire/life safety in early elementary students. Collaborative partnerships are critical to preserving community injury prevention education programs.

How the science of injury prevention contributes to advancing home fire safety in the USA: successes and opportunities

“…These programmes implemented at community level have been found to be beneficial in teaching children injury prevention and critical protective thinking skills 70. One example is the ‘Risk Watch’ programme in the USA and Canada.…”

“…One example is the ‘Risk Watch’ programme in the USA and Canada. Evidence shows that the Risk Watch programme delivered by a fire service public educator effectively increased short-term knowledge in early elementary students70 and improved safety skills and behaviours in school-age children 71…”

Factors Related to Injury Prevention Programming by Missouri School Nurses

“…Virtually none of the school nurses in this study indicated that there is a yearly budget for IP work, and fewer than half believe that the school administration supports the nurse’s professional development or training for IP. While it may not be feasible to allocate financial support for IP, facilitating partnerships between schools and external organizations may provide needed support for the adoption of evidence-based programming (Klas et al, 2015). School nurses are well positioned to partner with other organizations.…”

“…Research indicates that school nurses are increasingly responsible for administering acute medical care to students and often have limited time to implement prevention programs (Maughan & Adams, 2011; Maughan & Troup, 2011; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010). In addition, nurses are asked to support education and programming related to new and emerging topics including disaster and terrorism, suicide prevention, drug testing, dog bites, burn/fire prevention (Klas, Vlahos, McCully, Piche, & Wang, 2015), distracted driving (Stewart, Harrington, Batey, Merritt, & Parry, 2015), and other new injury areas (Mello, Getz, Lapidus, Moss, & Soulos, 2007).…”

Management and outcomes of children with severe burns in New South Wales: 1995–2013

“…Due to successful education campaigns and increasing public awareness, severe burn injuries in children appear to have significantly decreased in occurrence . Implementation of fire safety education in schools, the introduction of smoke alarms and legislation, including hot water system temperature restriction in new homes, are just some examples of the wide range of public health and prevention strategies that have made a significant impact on these statistics …”