There are lots of fears of performing first aid. Are you scared of attending a first aid course?
We often speak to people who are nervous or anxious of attending a first aid course. It’s totally normal to have fear of the unknown and it’s not only our job to give you the practical skills to help some but also the confidence.
Let’s have a look at why people are anxious about attending the course or learning first aid.
- Anxiety about attending a public course
We all get nervous when we don’t know what to expect and learning new things in a room full of strangers is pretty daunting. We can help right from the start of the booking process. If you have any worries we can give a full breakdown of the room the first aid training takes place in, the parking, the loos and how the day will run. We have no more than 12 people on our courses. Our First Aid instructors are all chosen for being great people as well as amazing trainers. We will ensure you have a relaxed enjoyable day.
We don’t put you on the spot. You don’t have to perform tasks whilst the whole group watches you. There are lots of practical tasks that the first aid instructor will guide the group through.
- The fear of doing something wrong, making it worse or hurting someone – Fears of performing first aid
We deal with this question on our First Aid at Work, Paediatric First Aid & Basic First Aid Courses, early in the morning. We want you to be confident to perform if you need to.
If we look at probably the worst thing that you may face, a casualty who isn’t breathing. It would be pretty hard to make them worse! If they aren’t breathing they are as bad as they are going to get. If we decide to do nothing at this point they will simply stay dead. If we do something then there is a chance that they will survive. Something is better than nothing…..
We train people to recognise if someone is breathing normally and when to call an ambulance. They will then walk you through the skills that you have already learnt on the course.
We train you on whether to move a casualty or not. Decision making is key to first aid and we make that bit simple. You don’t need to be a doctor to do this. Everyone can get this bit right.
- The fear for your own safety – Fears of performing first aid
This kind of follows on from point 2. It’s about decision making. On our first aid courses we walk you through scene assessment. It’s all about keeping yourself safe first. We can’t train you specifically for every first aid incident that might come up but we can train you to apply what you’ve learnt in every first aid incident. We will give you confidence to make informed decisions on the day. This could even be putting a bystanders coat on the floor for you first so that you don’t get cold whilst looking after the casualty.
- The fear of getting sued – Fears of performing first aid
Can you get sued performing first aid? It’s a question that comes up really regularly on our first aid courses.
There are many factors which need to be taken into account when considering this question, however, no legal precedent has been set in the UK where a casualty has successfully sued an individual who gave them treatment in an emergency resuscitation situation. That’s good – it means that it would be highly unlikely.
We will however train you how to mitigate this risk to ensure that this could never happen.
- The fear of infection – Fears of performing first aid
Can you catch things from performing first aid? The answer to this has to be yes. Although highly unlikely it is possible so we have to have ways to stop this from happening. We provide proactive strategies to prevent any danger to you. We look at using the barriers that we have in the workplace or if you a first aider in a school etc. We also look at what happens when we are out and about where we don’t have PPE and how to minimise any risks. From compression only CPR to using dog poo bags for gloves, we will ensure you are fully clued up.
It’s really normal to be nervous and we understand that anxiety is very real. We are here to support your learning with us and we guarantee that you will enjoy your day with us. If you are feeling stressed about anything we welcome your questions. We have met people early at our training centres to get them settled before everyone arrives. We are still learning but we will do everything that we can to make sure you learn these life saving skills.
First Aid Courses in Bracknell
First Aid Courses in Berkshire
