Red Cross first aid training and its effect on public first-aid competency: an empirical study of influencing factors

To assess the level of first-aid competency among the public in Jingmen City after receiving Red Cross first aid training and to identify its influencing factors.

From January to December 2025, a combined approach of offline training, questionnaire surveys, and skill assessments was adopted. A self-designed questionnaire on training awareness and a training support scale were administered to 2,897 residents in Jingmen City. Univariate and ridge regression analysis analyses were conducted to explore factors influencing first-aid competency.

Among 2,964 participants who underwent first-aid training, 2,897 valid questionnaires were collected, yielding a valid response rate of 97.7%. The residents' training awareness score was 3.79 ± 0.86, training support score was 3.60 ± 0.81, and the overall pass rate for training was 90.02%. The score for first-aid competency was 33.11 ± 6.91. Ridge regression analysis results showed that training awareness, training support, and occupation were influencing factors of first-aid competency (p < 0.05).

Following primary Red Cross first aid training, the public demonstrated a moderate level of first-aid competency. However, notable discrepancies were observed, including uneven awareness of first aid importance and inconsistent mastery of knowledge and skills across participants. Future efforts should therefore focus on optimizing training content, instructional methods, and support mechanisms according to the identified influencing factors, with the aim of consolidating and enhancing public first-aid competency.