Keep your CPR certification current.
What do you do with a skill that everyone needs, but almost no one uses? This is the challenge when it comes to workplace safety and CPR certification. How do we keep our CPR skills current and how often should we refresh them?
The reality is that the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest in the workplace is always present. At the same time, we may go most of our working lives without performing CPR on a co-worker. This highlights some hard truths:
- We forget the best way to perform CPR if we don’t use it
- We need regular practice to remain ready to step up when the time comes
- We need to get keep our CPR Certification current to meet our legal obligations
In this post we will look at CPR certification for your work, when is the best time to refresh your skills and how the Queensland First Aid Code of Practice can be your best guide to staying compliant.
What is CPR certification?
Unfortunately, you can’t just print your own CPR Certificate!
In Queensland, CPR certification means that you have a current nationally recognised qualification in either CPR alone or CPR and First Aid together. These certificates can only be issued by a Registered Training Organisation, or RTO.
An RTO is a training business that meets strict quality and ethical standards and has been approved to deliver specific training courses. There’s a lot more to the industry but for our purposes this is as far as we need to go. If you want to learn more, you can check out this article on the federal government ASQA website.
Currently the two most common CPR related certificate courses are:
There are others that are targeted at specific roles, such as Childcare worker
Why is it important to maintain current certification?
As mentioned at the outset, CPR is a skill that you may go a long time without using. Keeping your certification up to means you are as prepared as you can be to give CPR to someone the needs it.
Who needs CPR certification?
There are two key groups of people who need to maintain CPR certification as a part of their work:
- Occupations and trades where a current CPR certificate is a requirement of the job. This includes Aged Care workers, Disability and NDIS workers, Childcare workers, Nurses and many other medical professionals. Even licensed electricians need to complete a specialised version of the training that includes assisting a casualty who may be electrocuted.
- Workplace First Aiders. This covers every other industry where someone is a designated workplace first aider. Anyone who is designated by their employer as a first aider in the workplace is required to maintain current certification.
I personally believe there is a third group, but unfortunately, my work isn’t law! 😊 The third group is everyone else. It’s in our collective best interests for as many people as possible to be currently trained and skilled in emergency response and first aid.
How Often Does CPR Need to Be Renewed?
The standard for how often someone renews their certification is set down in the First Aid Code of Practice. The current version of the code says this in regard to renewal:
Frequency of training for first aiders
“First aiders should attend training on a regular basis to refresh their first aid knowledge and skills and to confirm their competence to provide first aid. Refresher training in CPR should be carried out annually and first aid qualifications should be renewed every three years.”
That link is to the Queensland edition, each state has it own. If you want to find your states version, just search for “first aid code of practice [insert your state’s name]” All states have the same requirements.
In practice this is what that means for a student who does First Aid and CPR training for the first time in 2024:
- 2024 – Complete HLTAID011 Provide First Aid or HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting if they work with young children.
- 2025 – Complete CPR refresher and recertification training by completing HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
- 2026 – Complete a refresher course again, HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
- 2027 – Complete the current version of HLTAID011 Provide First Aid or HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting to refresh their full range of first aid skills.
This is a general rule and the minimum you standard you should be meeting.
Some circumstances may mean that it a good idea to undertake refresher training more often. For example, working very remotely. We have one school in outback Queensland that completes their HLTAID011 Provide First Aid every second year, because they want to ensure their staff are prepared to manage an emergency for a 2-3 hour wait for professional medical assistance.
When to Renew CPR Certification
The best time to renew CPR certification is before time runs out from your last course. That way you are never working without a current certification. This is especially the case if you fall into group 1 above. If it’s a requirement of your role, some workplaces won’t allow you to work until you provide proof of your renewal. No one can afford to go without work for very long these days!
How to Renew CPR Certification
It’s a simple process to renew your CPR certification. Hundreds of people do it every day.
- Work out which course you need to complete. If it’s over 2 years since your last HLTAID011 Provide First Aid course, you should book to complete the current version of that course. If it’s less than that, you can book an HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation refresher.
- Choose your provider. We obviously think you should go with us.
- Find a date that suits you and book online.
- Complete the theory and attend the training session.
- Receive your certificate.
How do I make sure I’m booking the right provider?
As I mentioned earlier, CPR certificates can only be issued by Registered training providers or RTOs. An RTO has to prove that they have the resources, skills and experience to deliver a course before they can take an enrolment. They also have to ensure any trainers they use also have suitable skills.
The RTO can either deliver the training directly or through partner trainers, like us. We are not an RTO, but we partner with Allens Training, who are. We make sure everything we do is compliant with both the government rules and Allens’ rules. This means we can ensure we deliver the best training possible.
How can you tell if you are booking with an RTO or their partner?
The booking website should state clearly who is issuing the certificate and what their RTO number is. For example if you look at the footer of every page on our website, you will see something like this:
It may be a graphic like this one or just text but it will clearly identify the RTONotice, Allen’s RTO number 90909. If you want to check is an RTO is both currently registered and is approved to deliver the course you want. You can go to training.gov.au and search for them using the number. If you do that for Allens, you will find this page. You can then click on the SCOPE tab and check to see if they are approved to deliver the course you want in your state.
Can You Renew CPR Online?
Most First Aid and CPR courses have an online component, but they all contain a practical component too.
Renewing your CPR certification online is technically possible although it’s only suitable for a few limited use cases. 100% of the time you will have a better learning experience and have improved skills if you complete the practical training components in a classroom with your trainer.
If you are offered to complete the course fully online, you need to have your own CPR manikin and other equipment to practice and be assessed on. This is generally done with cheaper, less realistic manikins and a less realistic experience.
Conclusion
CPR is a skill that needs regular refreshing and completing a CPR or First Aid refresher course is the best way to do that. It must be completed through a Registered training organisation or their partner and should clearly identify who is issuing the certificate.
Are you due for your refresher certificate? It usually comes up quicker than you think. Maybe now is the time to did out a copy and then book a space in one of our upcoming courses.
I’m an experienced first responder and first aid trainer working in the Toowoomba, Darling Downs and South West Queensland.
I passionately beleive that First Aid and CPR are essential skills we should all learn and we should all be ready to help in an emergency. I also love writing about the skills we need and use.
I teach regular weekly courses in Toowoomba and we can come to you to deliver training anywhere from Athol to Eulo and everywhere in between.
