Disaster Preparedness of Child Care Teachers: A Cross-Sectional Study in South Korea.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify the differences in personal disaster preparedness and disaster risk perception among child care and preschool teachers in South Korea by using demographic characteristics and disaster-related questions.

METHODS: A cross-sectional self-reporting questionnaire was administered from February to October 2014.

RESULTS: Of all the participants, 68.1% had received disaster preparedness education and training on 2 or more occasions per year; 13.2% had received no education or training. Personal disaster preparedness differed significantly by marital status (P<0.05), the number of disaster education and training sessions attended (P<0.05), and having purchased home insurance (P<0.001). Disaster risk perception differed significantly by children's age group under a teacher's care (P<0.05). The topic on which child care teachers wanted more training was "fractures and bleeding emergency care" (53.9%). The most probable disaster was considered to be a typhoon (66.0%).

CONCLUSIONS: Disaster preparedness is important for both young children and their teachers. Field-based teacher disaster preparedness education and training should be provided so that they can respond effectively to disaster occurrence regardless of type, time, or location. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018; 12: 321-328).