Abstract
Background: Children spend one third of their day in school and are vulnerable to physical injuries because of lack of awareness about dangerous situations. Aims: We aimed to evaluate medical emergency preparedness among primary and intermediate schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and to compare private and public schools' readiness in term of equipment's, skills, knowledge and attitude toward life support courses. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 196 school staff from 39 schools using a validated questionnaire to assess equipment and staff knowledge. Results: 44% (n=83) of school staff had Basic Life Support (BLS) training, of which 77% were staff from public schools. Staff in private schools had higher practical training (63%) than those in public schools (33%). There was a significant different in the availability of bronchodilators and epinephrine pen between private and public schools (p-value 0.04 and 0.01 respectively). Overall, both sectors showed poor staff knowledge of medical emergency situations. Conclusions: This study showed insufficient knowledge and skills in both sectors; however the private sector has greater knowledge and skills. A positive attitude was recorded toward BLS.