Safety plays an important role everywhere but no more so than in early years and childcare settings where young children are left in the care of others. Accidents can always happen but knowing how to deal with them is essential not only in resolving the situation but also in calming the child down.
In nurseries and early years settings, there are requirements on them to meet Health and Safety Executive (HSE) requirements and Ofsted EYFS requirements (if applicable) for first aid.
What provision of first aid is required?
As employers, the usual HSE requirements apply for employees that there should be one first aider person per 50 employees. But as a setting that has young children, nurseries and early years settings are required to have at least one paediatric first aid trained member of staff at all times.
The requirement is that the paediatric first aider/s will have completed a full 12-hour training course and received a qualification. The qualification is valid for a period of 3 years and annual refresher training is strongly recommended to maintain practical skills and knowledge.
The first aider can be anyone at the setting including nursery nurses, teaching assistants, teachers, school welfare officers or childminders.
What does the course include?
A paediatric first aid course will include a range of useful skills to help you to deal with medical situations that arise in your setting, what the role includes, how to assess an incident and manage it. The practical first aid skills include:
- Delivering CPR to a baby and a child
- Managing an unconscious baby and child
- Managing a seizure
- Dealing with choking incident
- Handling anaphylaxis
- Managing shock
- Dealing with external bleeding
- Managing minor injuries
What is Millies’s Mark?
Millie’s Mark is an endorsement scheme that recognises childcare settings that have gone above and beyond the minimum requirements and has trained all staff in paediatric first aid. This scheme was created by Millie’s parents after she tragically died after a choking incident at her nursery. The scheme has been set up to give parents confidence that their child’s setting has the skills required to deliver first aid whenever needed and to save lives.
Training available
At METT we are passionate about delivering first aid training especially our paediatric courses which can make such a difference to so many lives. We offer a Paediatric First Aid Level 3 (RQF) course held over two days which is designed to fulfil all of Ofsted’s first aid requirements for early years, nursery workers and childminders. Get in touch to join a course or find out more.