UKH

In reply to Bloodfire:

IIRC there is some crossover in the courses run through Rescue Emergency Care. I'm sure if you contact them they'd be able to tell you what's what.

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Thanks for the mention. Yes - the SQA accredited course I run allows for dual assessment and certification of Outdoor First Aid and the Emergency First Aid at Work all in one hit.

Will

In reply to Bloodfire:

Couple of things to note - if you requalify your First Aid at Work with a 2 day refresher then this 12 hour course won't technically cover your ML award which needs 16 hours of training. It might be that if you can show your employer the sylabus of the OFA that they will be happy for that to cover their needs for your training, and at two days it's cheaper for them than losing you for three days. Finally as has been mentioned above if you join an ITC 16 hour course that is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) you can be assessed for and certificated for both your OFA and EFAW. And note, not all ITC centres offer this! (We do however! More details here: http://www.will4adventure.com/courses/outdoor-first-aid)

Will

In reply to Bloodfire:
Since the change in legislation in respect of First Aid in the Workplace (2013) there is no reason why your employer cannot accept the 16 hour Outdoor First Aid course certification for the purposes of First Aid in the workplace. This is acceptable (in place of the First Aid at Work certificate) so long as the employer, having undertaken an obligatory risk assessment is satisfied that the content meets the identified risks in their specific workplace, and is delivered by accredited providers.

As has been stated above, the Outdoor First Aid course (ITC) is delivered by accredited providers and one of the two units of learning is the 6 hour Emergency First Aid at Work course, so completion of the ITC Outdoor First Aid course allows the candidate to also hold an Emergency First Aid at Work certificate.

The full certificate states and specifies that it includes Unit One, (Emergency First Aid at Work). The respondent who says there is no 'standard' Outdoor First Aid course is not entirely correct, the course accredited by any given Awarding Body is standardised across all providers whose course is accredited/certificated by that Awarding Body (i.e.: ITC First). It may well vary between Awarding Bodies.

It is incorrect to say (kirsten) that the FAW has been reduced to two days, it is still 18 hours, (the refresher is two days/12 hours). There are no longer examinations in the FAW. Even when it was 3 days/18 hours the third day was almost exclusively set aside to practice the exam scenarios and for the exams themselves, so the 16 hour Outdoor First Aid course actually has more content and learning than the three day course had.

If you are up North look at Lancashire First Aid Training Ltd website.

In reply to Hillwalker:



Standard as in 'industry standard'. As you say, each awarding body/franchise will require a minimum standard of the courses delivered within their scheme and there will be equivalency across all courses within that scheme. But there is no one official 'outdoor first aid course' syllabus - but REC, the other REC, ITC and others are all pretty much the same so it doesn't matter who you pick. 16hrs, outdoor-relevant and 3-year certificate seems to be the baseline across different NGB awards.

Go for the best trainer, someone who has firsthand knowledge of delivering first aid (not regurgitated and garbled accounts that their trainer told them) and most will be fine.

I do know some providers of the above schemes in North Wales who have consistently displayed a shocking lack of knowledge and experience when called on to actually deal with an incident, or quite happily perpetuate myths because they can't be arsed to change their own notes. One was so bad that after a course I wrote to the awarding body, and got a phone call as a reply saying that it was unfortunate, but "they aren't running many courses per year so we'll let them off on this one"...

In reply to richprideaux:

Broadly agree with your comments, there are always good and not so good in every walk of life. A good Awarding Body inspects providers for quality and standards regularly, including unannounced inspection visits to courses, demands evidence of CPD and takes feedback from customers seriously.

My advice would be to look very carefully at a prospective provider's profile online and wherever you can find evidence, inspect it and ask yourself questions about the experience, background and knowledge they are likely to have. Most useful of all is word of mouth from others who have used them.