First Aid in Childcare

When looking after children, there is always the risk of accidents and injuries. In these cases, the adult that is in charge of looking after them has a duty to help. That is why a paediatric first aid course is essential for any child carer.

Qualifications and Requirements

While it used to just be the preferred option, it is now a legal requirement for any who looks after children to have first aid training specifically for children, also known as paediatric first aid training. This could be a nursery, school, after school club, or just anywhere that an adult is in charge of looking after babies or children. There are two different certifications that you could have which are the Full Paediatric First Aid or the Emergency Paediatric First Aid certification. According to legal requirements, there should be at least one person with this certification on the premises at all times, ready to help if needed.

Training Courses

This is a six hour paediatric first aid course that consists of training that should prepare you for a range of different medical emergencies as well as basic first aid. An assessor will come to help facilitate the training and see how much each person learns. They will decide at the end of the course if you passed or not and they are the ones that give you your certificate that is valid for three years. This means that you will not have to take an examination at the end of the course either. By the end of the course, you should be equipped with the knowledge and skill to use all the contents of a first aid bow and accurately record any accidents. You should also be able to help a child or baby who is unresponsive and breathing, who is unresponsive and not breathing normally, who is having a seizure, who is choking, who is bleeding and a baby or child who is suffering from shock caused by severe blood loss.

Staying Safe

As well as just paediatric first aid training courses, it is also important to regularly conduct risk assessments of the premises. This will also help you to determine which course is the most appropriate for your children and staff. The key things to look at in one of these assessments are hazards and risks on the premises, the amount of employees and how many are looking after children, accident history to see what is most likely to happen again, and how your workforce is distributed. If you are still unsure, there are resources on the Centaur Training website that can help you to make your decision.

Training Providers and Assessors

When booking this training for staff, it is important that you find a qualified and competent assessor. Whoever is sent to help you learn first aid should have many years of experience. They should be able to answer a range of questions and perfectly demonstrate techniques. They should also have a deep understanding of the requirements needed to look after children and exactly what training course is best suited to your situation. When booking online, find websites that already have a lot of key information about training courses available and which certifications you get from each course.

Conclusion

When working with children and babies, their safety and health is the priority. It is important that anyone that comes in contact with the children should be able to help them if they are having a medical emergency or even if they just have a small injury. To learn more about the different types of Paediatric first aid courses, visit the Centaur Training website.