All early years providers have a legal requirement to ensure adequate first aid provisions, including nurseries, childminders, and schools.
Doing your Due Diligence? Surrey First Aid Quality Assurance
So what do you need to do to comply?
Who needs a First Aid qualification?
Current legislation
The most recent Statutory Framework for the Early Years foundation Stage (EYFS) comes into effect in April 2017. It sets out the following requirement:
"At least one person who has a current paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present, and must accompany children on outings. The certificate must be for a full course consistent with the criteria set out in Annex A. Childminders, and any assistant who might be in sole charge of the children for any period of time, must hold a full current PFA certificate. PFA training must be renewed every three years and be relevant for workers caring for young children and where relevant, babies. Providers should take into account the number of children, staff and layout of premises to ensure that a paediatric first aider is able to respond to emergencies quickly. All newly qualified entrants** to the early years workforce who have completed a level 2 and/or level 3 qualification on or after 30 June 2016, must also have either a full PFA or an emergency PFA certificate within three months of starting work in order to be included in the required staff:child ratios at level 2 or level 3 in an early years setting. Providers should display (or make available to parents) staff PFA certificates or a list of staff who have a current PFA certificate."
** This is a new requirement which came into force on 1st September 2016 and settings were given a three month 'grace' period to complete the Paediatric First Aid training. In June 2016 The Department of Education conducted a questionnaire regarding the new legislation, the FAQs of the results can be found here: Department for Education - Paediatric First Aid FAQs.
What kind of First Aid do I need?
Both OFSTED and EYFS stipulate that training must be relevant for workers caring for young children and/or babies, general First Aid will not suffice. They also recommend training be at least 12 hours in duration.
Our 12 hour Paediatric First Aid course meets all OFSTED and EYFS requirements. For more detailed information about our course, please go here.
Specialist medicines
The EYFS requires that all early years providers implement a policy and procedures for administering medicine. It also requires that staff undergo training to administer medicines that require medical or technical knowledge e.g. Epipen administration. We offer training courses on Anaphylaxis and Auto-injector training that can be delivered as a standalone course or as an add-on to our 12 hour Paediatric First Aid course.
What do I do if a child has an accident whilst in my care?
Undertaking a Paediatric First Aid course should equip you with the skills to deal with many incidents. All accidents and injuries must be recorded in an incident book along with details of any first aid administered. The child’s parents or carers must also be informed as soon as possible. If the child’s illness, accident or injury is serious then registered providers must notify OFSTED within 14 days. Accident recording and reporting are both covered in our 12 hour Paediatric First Aid Course.
Need to book a Paediatric First Aid Course?
Individuals and small groups, please visit our public courses page to view upcoming dates and locations. Groups looking for in-house training please submit an enquiry via our group booking enquiry form.
If you would like more information or would like to discuss your requirements in greater details, we will always be happy to help. Call us on 01483 238 238 or email us This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Sources
Department for Education (2017) 'Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage' available at
https://www.earlyyearsmatters.co.uk/eyfs-new-version-3rd-april-2017/
Department for Education (2016) 'Paediatric first aid requirements in the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage - Consultation report and government response' available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/532503/PFA_Consultation_findings_and_response.PDF
Department for Education (2015) 'Consultation on amendments to the paediatric first aid requirements in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage’ available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/468408/Paediatric_first_aid_amendments_-_consultation.pdf