Our quality assurance policy explains our strategies and mechanisms for ensuring First Aid by Levande Trainings, a service offered by Levande Healthcare meets or exceed the standards we use to benchmark the quality of our products and services.
Introduction
From 1st October 2013 the Health & Safety Executive ceased the approval of Training Providers to deliver the First Aid at Work (FAW) and Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) courses.
Until this date the HSE had set rules and standards for Training Providers who sought Approval to deliver these important, benchmark First Aid courses. There are now four possible routes Training Providers can follow to allow them to deliver these qualifications:
1. Membership of an Awarding Organisations
The vast majority of Training Providers will already subscribe to one of the Awarding Organisations (which must be recognised by Ofqual) to accredit their courses. This route has an inherent Quality Assurance process built in; the Awarding Organisation sets standards for the Training Provider to operate at.
2. Membership of a First Aid Trade Body
Membership of a professional body alone (such as the Association of First Aiders or Federation of First Aid Training Organisations) does not have any Quality Assurance processes in place but the argument is that while Awarding Organisations have the expertise in education, Trade Bodies have the expertise in the subject matter. Trade Bodies are often amongst the first to promote new standards and best practice and are, very often, quicker to respond to these changes than Awarding Organisations. The American Heart Association (AHA) also falls into this category.
3. The Independent Training Provider
Independent Training Providers are now able to deliver both the EFAW and FAW courses with no membership to an Awarding or Professional body as long as they are able to demonstrate their capabilities and competencies as demonstrated by the Due Diligence procedure.
4. Voluntary Ambulance Service
Red Cross, St John Ambulance and St Andrew’s First Aid will continue to provide training under their own brands without addition external accreditation or membership to Trade Bodies.
Which Is Best?
The HSE – very importantly – does not recommend or promote one route to deliver. The duty is on the customer to satisfy themselves that their training provider is capable, credible and appropriate.
First Aid by Levande, a service provided by Levande Healthcare is an Independent Provider of the EFAW courses as well as other first aid trainings.
Being an Independent Provider allows us the flexibility to respond to the latest evidence-based research in pre-hospital care, the creativity to tailor our courses to the needs of our customers and the freedom to use engaging and effective teaching and assessment techniques.
Being Independent, we do not rely on anyone else’s logo or reputation, as such, we have a responsibility to not simply meet the minimum standards, but to exceed them.
Being Independent, we are able to ensure our courses are fit for the Nigerian environment especially as it relates to our health myths, beliefs and causes of health issues. This is extremely important.
Exceeding Expectations
The Due Diligence procedure is explained at length in the HSE Guidance “Selecting a First Aid Provider” which is you can download here. It suggests the following areas to examine:
Q1. Do the trainers and assessors have a current FAW certificate or qualify for an exemption?
Q2. Do the trainers and assessors have an appropriate qualification?
Q3. Is there a quality assurance system in place to monitor the quality of training?
Q4. Have training providers demonstrated that they work to accepted standards for training?
Q5. Is first aid taught in accordance with currently accepted first-aid practice?
Q6. Does the first-aid training course cover an appropriate syllabus?
Q7. Do certificates issued to students assessed as competent contain appropriate information?
Q1. Do the trainers and assessors have a current FAW certificate or qualify for an exemption?
Yes. First Aid by Levande does not have (and will never have) any trainer to deliver at the same level as their highest qualification, we believe that one should have experience for that which he/she teaches at a higher level.
Despite guidance from the HSE stating the Trainer must have First Aid at Work as a minimum, we insist on qualifications at least one level higher than that at which they are training, which is why we only have one trainer at the moment. The following are deemed to have a higher qualification than First Aid Work:
• Registered Paramedic
• Registered Nurse
• Registered Doctor
If the trainer is not a registered nurse or doctor, they will need to keep their first aid qualification, this would mean renewing it every 3 years.
Dr. Tosin Osikoya, the Lead Trainer is registered doctor with the MDCN and always has a current practising license which can be verified.
Q2. Do the trainers and assessors have an appropriate qualification?
Table 2 (below) provides guidance from the HSE of suitable qualifications for training and assessing:
At First Aid by Levande, education has as much credence as technical expertise. Being an expert does not mean you can teach it.
The HSE are satisfied that as long as the Trainers and Assessors have minimum qualifications of First Aid at Work and a Teaching qualification which can be completed in three days, the trainer is competent to deliver the course.
At First Aid by Levande, we exceed HSE expectations with our trainer, Dr. Tosin Osikoya, having the Teaching or Assessing qualification known as the Level 3 Award in Education and Training as highlighted in the table above. This can be verified.
Q3. Is there a quality assurance system in place to monitor the quality of training?
The HSE state that: “This ‘designated person’, who can be from inside or outside the organisation should be independent of training delivery and demonstrate competence for their role.”
Credible training should be objective with external quality assurance but the truth is, an internal QA assessor can never be truly objective or impartial and neither can an external assessor who is paid by the organisation.
First Aid by Levande relies on other mechanism to ensure and maintain our high standards, including:
• a documented course evaluation procedure that includes feedback from students;
• a documented complaints procedure;
• retaining detailed records of assessments for each student and store those records for a minimum of three years after completion of the course.
Q4. Have training providers demonstrated that they work to accepted standards for training?
With our extremely capable first aid trainer and Quality Assurance mechanisms in place we demand high standards elsewhere:
• Contact hours for courses are rigidly adhered to:
o CPR and Use of AED: 4 hrs
o Basic First Aid: 6-7 hours
o Emergency First Aid at Work: 8 hours
• Student to Teacher ratio is kept at 12:1.
• Each course uses high-quality equipment and time to familiarize and practice with. Our CPR manikins all have the recommended instrumented directive feedback device which measures compression rate, depth, recoil, and chest compression and provides real-time audio or visual feedback on these critical CPR skills.
• Whether you use our venues or we come to you, our basic requirement is a large training room for learning activities. While there is seating, we do not encourage tables as it is not a classroom format of lectures but an avenue to develop important practical skills. Participants are encouraged to make notes which support the learning material provided, if needed, but there is no obligation to write anything down.
Q5. Is first aid taught in accordance with currently accepted first-aid practice?
• Basic Life Support content (CPR, Use of AED & Choking) in all of our courses is based on the current guidelines published by the United Kingdom Resuscitation Council.
• EFAW content is based on the practice of medicine in Nigeria as well as information from the Voluntary Aid Societies (St John Ambulance and British Red Cross)
• Additional content come from a range of sources including:
o The Nigeria Medical Association
o Recently published medical articles
Q6. Does the first-aid training course cover an appropriate syllabus?
In line the HSE’s 2013 First Aid Guidelines our course includes the following recommended content:
Candidates who successfully complete the EFAW course will be able to:
• understand the role of the first-aider, including reference to:
• the importance of preventing cross-infection;
• the need for recording incidents and actions;
• use of available equipment;
• assess the situation and circumstances in order to act safely, promptly and effectively in an emergency;
• administer first aid to a casualty who is unconscious (including seizure);
• administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
• administer first aid to a casualty who is choking;
• administer first aid to a casualty who is wounded and bleeding;
• administer first aid to a casualty who is suffering from shock;
• provide appropriate first aid for minor injuries (including small cuts, grazes and bruises, minor burns and scalds, small splinters).
As well as any specific content required by the candidate or employer as identified in their First Aid needs assessments.
Q7. Do certificates issued to students assessed as competent contain appropriate information?
We only issue certificates to those we have assessed as competent. Learners must demonstrate satisfactory knowledge, skill and understanding in all aspects of the training course. This we assess during the physical skills and with the results of the mandatory tests at the end of the course.
All course certificate issued from First Aid by Levande clearly states:
- the name of the training organisation
- the name of the candidate;
- the title of the qualification (e.g. EFAW, CPR & Use of AED, Basic First Aid);
- an indication that the certificate has been issued for the purposes of complying with the requirements of the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 (only with EFAW).
- confirmation that the certificate is valid for three years;
- the training date.
Additional Information with Regards to Other Courses
Q8. Do you offer Basic Life Support (BLS) certification?
Yes.
We offer AHA (American Heart Association) Basic Life Support (BLS) as well as Heartsaver courses.
BLS training is for Healthcare Providers while the Heartsaver courses are geared towards those with limited or no medical training.
Click here to learn more about our AHA Certification trainings.
Q9 What about your Paediatric Courses?
We follow the UK regulations on this set by Ofsted. Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills is a non-ministerial department of the UK government, reporting to Parliament. They inspect the services providing education and skills for learners of all ages.
Ofsted register the service setting or provider (e.g. the nursery or nanny), on their ‘Childcare register’. For a setting such as a school, nursery, after-school or holiday club, childminder, and some private nannies to be on the Ofsted register, it/they must meet a strict set of criteria.
Ofsted dictate the criteria for ‘appropriate’ first aid training but they do not register individual courses. One of the criteria for a setting to be listed on the Ofsted childcare register is ‘paediatric first aid’.
Paediatric first aid training must meet the Ofsted recommendations for a first aid certificate to be used as part of the childcare provider’s registration. There are 2 paediatric first aid courses that can be Ofsted compliant. The 1-day Emergency Paediatric First Aid Training (EPFA) and the 2-day Paediatric First Aid Training (PFA). We only offer the EPFA Training.
Q10. Is your Blended Learning option up to standard?
a. Does the learner know how to use the technology that delivers the training?
Our blended learning option is for those for whom learning online is comfortable, accessible and adequate.
b. Can the training provider adequately support the individual during their training?
Absolutely. The learning platform we use is easy to use and interactive. The learner can communicate with us on any problem areas.
c. Does the training provider have a robust system in place to prevent identity fraud?
Right now, this is not as issue in Nigeria as people are just being made aware of the necessity of these trainings. The fact that it is not mandatory yet has removed the risk of identity fraud.
d. Is sufficient time allocated to classroom-based learning and assessment of the practical elements of the syllabus?
Yes. No certificates are awarded without completing the online learning 100%, passing the final quiz and being assessed as competent in the skills during the physical sessions.
e. Does the provider have an appropriate means of assessing the e-learning component of the training?
Yes. This we do during the review at the physical session and the final assessment.