I thought it would be helpful to clarify who needs to have a First Aid qualification, how it can be gained, and the required timescales.
Now (before Transformation)
At the moment, all leaders, assistant leaders, GSLs, DGSLs, AGSLs, DCs, DDCs, ADCs, RC, DRC, ARCs, ASU Managers are required to have First Aid. It needs to be completed within 3 years of the appointment start date, and kept up to date thereafter.
Sometime later (after Transformation)
Role titles will change, but anyone is a section team (this includes current leaders, assistant leaders and section assistants), Group Lead Volunteers (aka GSLs) 18-24 leads will need First Aid. Timescales are a little more complicated:
- those coming from a role where it wasn’t required (section assistants) will have 1 year from the date of Transformation to complete
- those coming from a role where it was required (e.g. leaders, assistant leaders, GSLs etc) will have a maximum of 2 years from the role start date. NB This may cause some to go overdue immediately after transformation, if the person has already been in role for 2 years or more.
- new joiners after Transformation will have 1 year from their start date
How to do it
There are several possibilities, but if it’s not included in your Compass record, as far as Scouting is concerned, you don’t have First Aid.
- Attend a 1 day First Response course
There are run by the Regional First Aid team. They are advertised on Eventbrite and places can be booked. wo are in the calendar just now, 17th and 24th March. Links are:17/03 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/808533584717?aff=oddtdtcreator
24/03 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/846454988657?aff=oddtdtcreator
- The Blended model (aka Hampshire model)
- Complete the online theory learning (around 3 hours in total, but can be done in multiple short sessions if you prefer), then
- Join a single Zoom session led by a trainer (usually 2.5 hours), then
- Attend a session for the practical demonstration (around 30 – 40 minutes)
- Attend a 1 day First Response course
The Blended Model can be accessed here.
The Region will monitor the list of people completing the online learning, and will organise the Zoom sessions and practical demonstrations to match demand.
3. HSE First Aid at Work / Emergency First Aid at Work
Many leaders have First Aid at Work, or Emergency First Aid at Work. Neither of these meet all Scouting’s requirements, but there’s a subset of the Hampshire model for each that plug the few gaps. Complete the online learning, then send the online completion certificate and your original FAW / EFAW to your Training Adviser or ADC (AT) to update Compass.
4. Professional First Aid
The Scouts recognises that some professions, by the nature of the job, will have a first aid element (e.g. Nurses, Midwives, Police Officers, Medical Practitioners, Members of HM Armed Forces, Ambulance Care – Assistants/Paramedics/Technicians, etc).
To exempt these professionals from undergoing more first aid training, they are required to provide evidence of an up-to-date qualification which should meet the criteria for what is considered our minimum standard.
This evidence can be a certificate or an official letter confirming the necessary areas have been met.
5. Other qualifications
Where people have other external qualifications, they will need to be checked individually to see if they met the First Response minimum content. If gaps are few, a First Aid Trainer may be able to work with the individual to address the gaps.
Don’t Panic, but…
As you will remember, in 2020 all face–to–face scouting stopped (as with much of face to face life) because of Covid. In April 2021 we started to offer First Response theory (module 10A) via Zoom, but it wasn’t until October 2021 that we were able to offer the practical demonstration (module 10B). This means that literally hundreds of leaders qualified in late 2021 / early 2022, and so their qualifications will expire in late 2024 / early 2025.
PLEASE check the date your certificate expires (it’s in Compass), and discuss within your Group how you can stagger the updates without anyone going overdue. The training team will ramp up the number of courses, but we cannot accommodate the hundreds that will be required within the few months. If this applies to you, and you would be comfortable with the blended model, that would be incredibly helpful.
Find all the upcoming training events on Eventbrite – visit https://sesscouts.org.uk/adult-training/ and click on ‘Training calendar’.
To register for the blended (Hampshire model) go to https://hampshire-scouts.thinkific.com/courses/firstresponse
Mary Dick
ARC (Adult Training)
