First Aid Certification; the truth, the facts .

Is your first aid training provider offering you a choice? Do you understand the options available to you?

If you are only being offered:

Regulated First Aid Training
Accredited First Aid certification
Ofqual certification
Ofqual regulated qualifications

You are not being offered the full choice. The above options are not mandatory and due to changes made to the law in October 2013, you have a number of options available to you when selecting a first aid training provider. In fact, the options above are the most expensive route for businesses and individuals wishing to undertake first aid training.

The new law states the following options are available in respect to first aid training:

1. Offer regulated qualifications; i.e CIEH, HABC etc. or

2. Operate under voluntary accreditation schemes (including trade/industry bodies); i.e. The First Aid Industry Body (FAIB) or

3. Operate independently of any such accreditation scheme; or

4. Utilise the services of the voluntary aided societies (Red Cross, St John, and St Andrews).

“Here’s the good news”

Due to the quality assurance systems we have in place, First Response First Aid Ltd are able to operate independently and certificate our own First Aid courses. The benefit of this to you is that you do not have to pay an additional per-person price for certificates, as you would if it was an Ofqual regulated qualification. The systems and procedures First Response First Aid have in place are compliant with the Assessment Principles for First Aid Qualifications. These assessment principles have been produced by Awarding Organisations in cooperation with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), Skills for Health and Qualification regulators.

To reinforce the standard of our provision, we are members of the First Aid Industry Body (FAIB) who will be externally auditing First Response First Aid Ltd courses. Their external verification will ensure our certification satisfies the requirements of both the Independent and Trade Industry body routes, without any compromise on quality.

“Please remember”

If you have a requirement for Ofqual regulated qualifications( i.e. certification provided by the CIEH etc.) First Response First Aid Ltd is able to provide this as we are an approved training centre with CIEH, HABC & Qualsafe Awards.

In summary, this means that we are in a position to provide you with 3 of the 4 available options. Whichever option you choose, the quality of our training will not differ. The only differences are the price and the logo on the certificates.

First Response First Aid have been honest with our customers since the onset of the law changes. We have made it clear that our customers can choose the route that suits them best. This is why we took the decision to provide a range of options. Many of the training providers who solely offer Ofqual accredited courses are doing so as it is an easy option for them, and they lack the resources to offer their own alternatives to the same quality standard.

There are those within the first aid industry who seem to have lost touch with the reason the regulations were changed in the first place. It was to give you, the employer, more choice in the type of first aid training your staff receive. Please do not let anyone take that choice away from you.