How will the Transition to the PHECC First Aid Response (FAR) course affect Occupational First Aid Instructors?
PHECC First Aid Response STN0076
As First Aid Instructors we are aware that we are changing from The QQI Occupational First Aid Level 5 to the PHECC First Aid Response or FAR. This is turning out to be a confusing time for both the Instructors and the people who attend our courses. We are now getting a barrage of emails from companies encouraging us to attend their RPL Programme to transition to become FAR Instructors. So do we need to panic and rush off to transition straight away? In my opinion while we must transition across this year, I would take a ‘wait and see’ approach until more companies become PHECC registered and are able to offer this course to Instructors.
This transition will be a gradual process and both the QQI Occupational First Aid and PHECC First Aid Response Course (FAR) will be run side by side for at least two years and in my opinion for longer as the wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly.
Why wait do the PHECC FAR transition RPL?
The main benefit of waiting in my opinion is that there will be more companies offering this course thus the more companies offering the course, the more competitive the price will be. These companies are competing and for us to affiliate with them and they will be offering us incentives to register our courses with them. Remember this is big business for those who offer this service; some companies have been very quick off the mark. We will be registering all our courses with these companies and that is a lot of certificates and a lot of money - a lot is at stake. Hold tight and wait and see what’s being offered and who gives good value for money before setting your stall with one particular company.
How will this PHECC First Aid Response Course affect us as Instructors?
First and foremost all responsible instructors will sit down and study the new First Aid Response objectives and CPG’s and deliver the course to the required standard. In the new guidelines, PHECC Institutions offering the RPL and registration of courses ‘must design the course’ to meet the theory and practice of the learning outcomes. This can include electronic learning. For instructors I would take it that the institution offering us RPL will have to offer us First Aid presentation, lesson plans, timetables etc that will meet with the approved criteria of the FAR course.
Duration:
The course must incorporate the CFR CommunityStandard and assessment shall be no less than 18 contact hours. This is more appropriate than the 24 hours currently in the QQI Occupational standard.
Assessment:
As with the QQI Occupational First Aid the PHECC First Aid Response (FAR) must incorporate PHECC CFR community assessment, practical skills assessment and a written MCQ. However with the new FAR this can be done by the instructor which I think is very positive for the learners. Adult learners can get very nervous at the thought of an exam and extremely nervous when an external examiner is coming to assess - many learners have shared with me that they couldn’t sleep the night before their assessment.
Another positive is that the participant can be ‘assessed throughout or at the end ofthe course’ When all assessments are done on the last day it can cause tension and worry for the participant leading up to the exam. Learners will be more competent in skills when taught in a relaxed and less stressed environment.
Recertification:
The Occupational First Aid recertification course was 8 hours in duration. In my opinion this was sufficient to refresh the knowledge, skills and attitudes and achieve all the learning outcomes.
The duration of First AidResponse recertification course ‘shall be no less than 12 contact hours’ including assessment (excluding breaks; averaging 6 hours instruction per day)’.
This will have massive financial implications for our clients. For example, a company I provide training for has over 100 employees trained as Occupational First Aiders. This is well above the recommended amount of First Aiders in the workplace. This company values their employees and like to offer continuous professional development (CPD) to their employees meaning anyone wishing to do the course is accommodated. However on speaking to their Health and Safety Officer he stated categorically that the company will return to the minimum number required (1 Occupational First aider for 50 – 149 depending on their safety statement) if it is a two day refresher as the company could not afford to have workers in training for 2 days, every 2 years.
The Childcare groups that I have spoken to are still reeling from the shock at the projected rise in their training costs. Personally I feel we will see a drop in the number of people looking for the FAR course and instead opting for basic uncertified courses for employees, once they have met the minimum safety standards.
Ratio:
The QQI Occupational First Aid had an instructor student ratio of 1:10. As an experienced instructor I found this ratio very manageable and learners achieved a high level of competence in skills.
The ratio for the First Aid Response course is 1:6. While this ratio obviously allows more time with the learners, it has huge financial implications for both us as instructors and our clients. All instructors will want to keep their current salary level and will expect to get paid the same for a day’s work whether delivering the OFA or the FAR.
If the Instructor keeps their current remuneration then the expense will be passed on to the client. Certain services such as the Childcare sector which is heavily regulated and has a very high ratio of Occupational First Aiders in comparison to most other working sectors will find a huge increase in training cost in an already overburdened sector. I spoke to some crèche owners and a child care committee representative and they were in agreement that this will be a huge burden financially for them and many will be unable to keep their current level of Occupational First Aiders and once minimum standards are met they will source uncertified courses for the remainder of their employees. With this new ratio, some companies will be lowering the rate at which they pay their instructors to make it viable for their clients.
Certification:
The successful learner will receive an ‘award of joint PHECC/recognised institution First Aid Response cards/certificates’. As with the QQI Occupational First Aid the First Response this certification lapses after 2 years.
In conclusion while I welcome the new FAR and see a lot of the benefits that it brings, I feel that the HSA and PHECC should sit down with instructors and discuss the changes and implications. Change is always difficult but saying that I am looking forward to see what the future brings for myself as an instructor.
