New Forest First Aid Training take the safety and well-being of all their clients seriously. The measures recommended by the Resuscitation Council, Public Health England and the NHS are and have been fully implemented and updated daily in line with any changes to current advice.
Resuscitation Council Advice for First Aid Instructors can be found here: https://www.resus.org.uk/media/statements/resuscitation-council-uk-statements-on-covid-19-coronavirus-cpr-and-resuscitation/covid-training/
Resuscitation Council Advice on CPR in community settings can be found here: https://www.resus.org.uk/media/statements/resuscitation-council-uk-statements-on-covid-19-coronavirus-cpr-and-resuscitation/covid-community/
Resuscitation Council Advice on CPR for healthcare settings can be found here: https://www.resus.org.uk/media/statements/resuscitation-council-uk-statements-on-covid-19-coronavirus-cpr-and-resuscitation/faqs-on-covid-19-for-hcps/
HEALTH & SAFETY EXECUTIVE STATEMENT ON FIRST AID COVER DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK:
First aid cover and qualifications during the coronavirus outbreak
If first aid cover for your business is reduced because of coronavirus or you can’t get the first aid training you need, there are some things you can do so that you still comply with the law.
You should review your first aid needs assessment and decide if you can still provide the cover needed for the workers that are present and the activities that they are doing.
Keep enough first aid cover
If there are fewer people coming into your workplace it may still be safe to operate with reduced first aid cover. You could also stop higher risk activities.
Share first aid cover with another business
You could share the first aiders of another business, but be sure that they have the knowledge, experience and availability to cover the first aid needs of your business.
Shared first aiders must:
be aware of the type of injuries or illnesses that you identified in your first aid needs assessment and have the training and skills to address them
know enough about your work environment and its first aid facilities
be able to get to the workplace in good time if needed
Whoever provides the temporary cover must make sure they do not adversely affect their own first aid cover.
First aid certificate extensions
If you hold a first aid certificate that expires on or after 16 March 2020 and cannot access requalification training because of coronavirus you may qualify for a 6-month extension. See HSE statement below.
Currently, this applies to all certified courses except Paediatric and Emergency Paediatric First Aid Courses.
Interrupted first aid training
If because of coronavirus you cannot complete training for your first aid qualification within the usual timeframe, training can restart at a later date as long as:
a full recap of training delivered before the interruption is done before moving onto undelivered modules
the awarding body is content that you can show:
a full understanding of all aspects of the course content
the knowledge required and competencies at the end of the training
HEALTH & SAFETY EXECUTIVE AND DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION STATEMENT ON EXTENSION OF FIRST AID QUALIFICATIONS:
HSE statement in full
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is aware that people holding Offshore Medic (OM), Offshore First Aid (OFA), First Aid at Work (FAW) or Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) and other certificates nearing expiry date, might experience disruption to access to requalification training as a result of events or circumstances generated by the coronavirus pandemic.
On 24th September 2020 the HSE has announced that for England, Scotland and Wales (we expect the HSE Northern Ireland to follow suit shortly), all learners who expired on or after the 16th March 2020 will be given an extension until the 31st October 2020 or a 6 month extension on their current expiry date, whichever is the latest.
The HSE have stated that the 31st March 2021 is the latest possible date a qualification can be extended until so learners expiring in January 2021 will not get a full 6 month extension and will only be extended until the HSE deadline of the 31st March 2021.
Anyone taking advantage of this extension should be able to describe clearly their reasons for delaying requalification training, and demonstrate steps they have taken to undertake the training, if required.
This guidance comes into effect for certificates expiring on or after 16th March 2020.
Last updated 24th September 2020.
