Safety awareness of emergency among students of a State University in Northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has had its own fair share of both natural and man-made disasters in recent times. Kaduna state is one of the states that have experienced such problems. The aim of this study is to elicit the socio-demographic
characteristics, power of observation, personal safety measures, availability of some emergency facilities and ability to seek for assistance in an event of emergency or disaster. It was a cross sectional descriptive study carried
in March 2014. Majority (82.7%) of the respondents were male students of Kaduna State University, whose mean age was 22.6 ± 2.8 years and age range of 18 to 28 years. The power of observation among the students was
poor and so was the basic knowledge of first aid. Only 8.3% and 31.4% reported seeing fire extinguisher and buckets full of sand in and around  buildings. Similarly, only 29.0%, 31.0%, 14.8% and 6.5% of the students had the phone numbers of ambulance service provider, federal road safety office, fire service office and the chief security officer of the university. There is the need to create awareness and knowledge on  emergency/disaster as well as basic first aid practices amongst the students who can be change agents and are likely to influence others.

Key words: Disaster, disaster preparedness, basic first aid, students