• Christine Ammirati, Rémi Gagnayre, Carole Amsallem, Bernard Némitz, and Maxime Gignon.
• Emergency Medicine Department, University Hospital of Amiens, Amiens, France Laboratory Education and Health Practices, University Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France Active Teaching and Health Simulation Training Centre (CPA-SimUSanté©), Amiens, France.
• BMJ Open. 2014 Jan 1;4(9):e005848.

ObjectivesThis study was designed to assess the knowledge acquired by very young children (<6 years) trained by their own teachers at nursery school. This comparative study assessed the effect of training before the age of 6 years compared with a group of age-matched untrained children.SettingSome schoolteachers were trained by emergency medical teams to perform basic first aid.ParticipantsEighteen classes comprising 315 pupils were randomly selected: nine classes of trained pupils (cohort C1) and nine classes of untrained pupils (cohort C2).Primary And Secondary Outcome MeasuresThe test involved observing and describing three pictures and using the phone to call the medical emergency centre. Assessment of each child was based on nine criteria, and was performed by the teacher 2 months after completion of first aid training.ResultsThis study concerned 285 pupils: 140 trained and 145 untrained. The majority of trained pupils gave the expected answers for all criteria and reacted appropriately by assessing the situation and alerting emergency services (55.7-89.3% according to the questions). Comparison of the two groups revealed a significantly greater ability of trained pupils to describe an emergency situation (p<0.005) and raise the alert (p<0.0001).ConclusionsThis study shows the ability of very young children to assimilate basic skills as taught by their own schoolteachers.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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