First Aid top-up training
First Aid top-up training…
Many commercial courses do not cover all the aspects required by the Scout Association.
The assumption is that emergency services are readily available so most first response is about keeping casualties alive and stable. The environment is also assumed to be inside an urban building so outdoors environmental factors aren’t covered. There is also a recognition that in most office type work places, the risks of fractures and spinal injuries is low so again is not covered.Likewise, hypothermia or heat exhaustion and most training providers would offer this as the next level of training for work places that require it. Lastly, many courses do not cover aspects of first aid that are widely linked to young people such as meningitis, anaphylaxis and CPR for children. This needs to be checked in order to meet the Scout Associations requirements..
If your current training has not covered all the criteria for the course, you can do top-up training. You are not expected to do the full scouting course but this is still an option for you if you’d rather be taught in a class-room type setup.
For anyone who has completed a First Aid course outside of Scouting there is now a Check Your Knowledge Quiz. This covers all the elements which might not be covered in an external adult orientated course. Access to the quiz is below.
Once the Quiz has been completed, please take a screen shot of the first page of the summary which shows your quiz score and send to your Local Training Manager or Adult-Training @Somersetscouts.org.uk. You need to score at least 12 out of 15 to “pass”.
To help you prepare for taking the quiz or to act as a refresher, the following material and links may well help.
Heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dehydration and hypothermia
- http://www.redcross.org.uk/en/What-we-do/First-aid/Everyday-First-Aid/Hypothermia
- http://www.redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk/News-and-legislation/latest-news/2013/July/heat-exhaustion.aspx
- http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dehydration/Pages/Symptoms.aspx
Anaphylaxis (use of Epi pen)
Top-up Training for Meningitis
If your course did not cover recognising the symptoms of meningitis and you are happy to self-study, study the following links and then discuss it with a TA or your line manager to check that you have understood it. If this was the only element not covered then let your Local Training Manager know so that your record can be updated.
Top-up Training for CPR for Children
If your course did not cover CPR for children this needs one-to-one practical training and practice with manikins. Please contact your Local Training Manager who can put you in touch with someone.
Top-up Training for Spinal Injuries and Fractures
If your course did not cover handling possible spinal injuries and fractures, this is currently more difficult for us to provide. Fracture treatment is often split into treatment if an ambulance is imminent and treatments if it isn’t. There is some self-study for ambulance imminent.
Fractures – Ambulance Imminent
