First aid charity St John Ambulance is putting on training for nursery and pre-school staff in Brighton and Hove in response to an expected change in the law.
The charity, which has its Brighton base in Crowhurst Road, Hollingbury, said: “Early years providers must have at least one paediatric first aider available on the premises at all times and a certain number of staff with level 2 and 3 qualifications to fulfil the required ratio of qualified carers per child.
“The new proposals mean, in addition to a childcare level 2 and 3 qualification, newly qualified staff will also need an emergency paediatric first aid or full paediatric first aid certificate if they want to be counted towards the required ratio.
“The move will increase the number of trained staff per child – a life-saving change that will add approximately 15,000 additional trained early years professionals to nurseries and pre-schools each and every year.”
Andrew New, head of education and training products at St John Ambulance, said: “We believe all child-facing roles should be first aid trained so we welcome the government’s proposals as this will have a real impact on the safety of children in nurseries and similar places.”
The charity said that its training focused on emergency scenarios that face those looking after young children and infants. These include dealing with a child that is unresponsive, choking, bleeding or has been burned or scalded as well as learning resuscitation (CPR).
St John Ambulance runs two-day paediatric first aid courses throughout the year, with a new, one-day emergency paediatric first aid course starting from September.
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