Background Data on school injury are not always easy to obtain. Many of the existing data are based on schoolchildren's self-report. Self-reported data are vulnerable to recall bias, and to interpretation of what is considered as medical treatment, a term usually used as a criterion to prevent children from reporting insignificant injuries. In Israel, all data on school-related injury were collected using self-reported questionnaires. In the academic year of 2007/08, Magen David Adom (MDA), a NGO that provides first aid and ambulance services in Israel, provided first aid services to all schools in the state. This paper presents findings from these data and compares them to previously published self-reported data collected by the Health Behaviour in School Aged Children survey.

Methodology During the 2007/08 academic year, MDA had set a call centre for schools. In case of a school injury, schools were encouraged to call the centre for telephone assessment followed by either: advice on treatment at school by school staff; provision of first aid by member of MDA staff on school grounds; or provision of an ambulance service. The service was offered free of charge to all the schools in the state. MDA staff recorded all calls, and collected information on the type of injury, location and time for all types of services.

Main Findings The paper will present analysis of the data collected and will compare prevalence to nationally representative sample of self-reported injury in school going children.