With the focus on rapidly rising costs in virtually all aspects of running a business, it is easy to overlook the importance of health and safety in the workplace. Having a work colleague suffer a life-threatening medical emergency does tend to put everything else into perspective. At NovaCast, we operate in an environment with many inherent risks, so ensuring that our colleagues are well prepared to help each other, should a medical emergency arise, is critical.
Several NovaCast staff members from each part of the business have recently undertaken a 3-day First Aid at Work course run by EFA Training. The course, run at NovaCast’s offices in Melksham, meets the requirements for both the First Aid Industry Body (FAIB) and Ofqual Level 3 (RQF) requirements.
The 3-day course covered many medical conditions where first aid can make a real difference. These included: Safety, Burns and Scalds, Anaphylactic Shock, Unconsciousness, Fractures, Safe use of an AED Defibrillator, Resuscitation/CPR, Seizures/Fitting, Fainting, Bleeding, Bites and Stings, Heart Attacks, Shock, Crush Injuries, Health & Safety Guidance, Angina, Head Injuries, Poisons, Eye Injuries, Hypothermia, Heat Exhaustion, Choking, Recovery Position, Heat Stroke, First Aid Kits, Spinal Injuries, Diabetes, Asthma, and Stroke.
Richard Phillips, MD at NovaCast was particularly drawn to the EFA Training programme because it has a real emphasis on building the confidence of staff members to use the knowledge they have gained, should the need arise. He commented’ “I really believe that investing in the 3-day course is the best way to keep us all safe. It is such a wide-ranging course and having that much time allows everyone to experience as much hands-on practice as possible, which builds that all-important confidence to step in quickly and decisively when it’s needed.