How to Choose a First Aid Course
Most of us don’t give too much thought to what company we choose a first aid course with. However, since new courses were released in 2019, there can be quite a difference between training providers! We’ve written this post to give advice on what you should look for when choosing first aid training, and of course, we’d love for you to check out our courses.
Why you need quality
Because training quality matters. In an emergency, you want to be as confident as possible. Not to be dramatic, but remembering what you learned in First Aid training could literally be the difference between life and death.
Consider this scenario that highlights the importance of quality training:
If you saw a child choking, how would you handle the situation? Likely you would give 5 back blows as directed in your first aid course, and then move on to 5 chest thrusts. But what if that didn’t help and the child became unresponsive? What would you do?
This is a real situation that happened in South Australian school. Sadly it didn’t end well. You can read what happened here.
In this instance, the right thing to do is to commence CPR. Sadly, the teachers were unsure of what to do and never gave CPR when the boy became unresponsive. It was only once the ambulance arrived that revival was attempted. A coronial inquest has been launched into the situation and is focusing on the quality of training the teachers received. So is it important to attend a high quality course? Absolutely! If something goes wrong, you want to be as confident as possible.
At Accidental Health and Safety incidents like these prove to us the importance of quality training. We always focus on quality in our courses. So when you choose a first aid course with us, we make it our aim for you to become as skilled and confident as possible.
Choose A First Aid Course With Practical Skills
Another important area to consider when you choose a first aid course is its focus. We’ve all been in classes where the instructor or another classmate has told long stories about emergencies they’ve helped in or used complicated medical terms that aren’t easy to understand. The problem is that those stories can take focus away from the training. We’ve recognised that those stories and jargon don’t help so we’ve made developing practical skills the focus of our courses.
For example, at a full day course, you’ll get to practice CPR, not only on an adult, but also a baby. You’ll learn how to confidently use a defibrillator and understand how they work. You’ll practice how to treat someone who is in anaphylactic shock and how to treat asthma the right way. We also practice slinging and bandaging skills that help with nasty trips and falls. That’s just some of what we do on the day, but the point is, practical skills you will actually use are front and centre of our courses, it’s what we build the whole day around.
Choose A First Aid Course That Can Be Delivered Onsite.
If you are in a position to choose training for your staff, it’s worth looking at onsite training. At Accidental Health & Safety we are happy to train as long as there are 6 or more people. Onsite training offers some great advantages. First, the course can be tailored to your needs, more time can be spent on incidents that are likely to occur in your workplace. Second, it’s convenient. Rather then sending staff through the year and keeping track of all their different expiry dates, many employers have found it easy to just organise yearly onsite training. You will also benefit by having your staff available for work before and after their course.
Conclusion
So when you are looking for a first aid course, don’t choose whoever. Book a provider that offers quality courses focusing on practical skills. Why not join a public course in Wollongong or Warwick today? Or consider requesting onsite training throughout the Darling Downs, Illawarra, Central Highlands or South Coast regions.
Hey there! I’ve been a first aider since 2012, eventually becoming a first aid trainer and writer. When I’m not writing first aid articles you can find me birding and listening to jangle pop.
