From September 2016, all newly qualified practitioners to be Paediatric First Aid trained.
Following the tragic death of Millie Thompson, both parents have set up Mille’s Trust, a charity that provides paediatric First Aid training. A petition was launched stating all nursery practitioners to be First Aid trained. Thousands of people signed the petition and as a result of this new legislation said that all newly qualified practitioners at both level 2 and level 3 must be paediatric first aid trained. This new legislation is to come into effect this September.
Currently, childcare providers only have to have one first aider on site at all times, come Septemeber any newly qualified practitioners will have to have paediatric first aid training. It is also the aim that all staff is to be paediatric first aid trained as well as newly qualified practitioners.
Ensuring all newly qualified practitioners are trained in paediatric first aid will mean an additional cost to nurseries training budgets and many providers are asking the question who is going to foot this bill?. Funding provided by local authorities varies from county to county, some offering a minimum amount of funded places per settings.
Since the tragic death of Millie Thompson, many nurseries are exceeding the current requirement as more employees have attended paediatric first aid training courses to protect children and keep them safe,
Any courses that practitioners are booked onto must follow the content from St Johns Ambulance, or British Red Cross and this training should be renewed every three years.
Investing in practitioners being paediatric first aid trained is a big challenge for some providers, causing some financial strain on training budgets. Nurseries are fully aware of the new legislation and are already sourcing providers to train employees.
It is good practice to ensure practitioners knowledge is kept up to date; some settings talk about first aid during staff meetings and reflect on any incidents that have happened.