June 3, 2015
So you want to be a First Aid Instructor?
Have you ever thought about becoming a first aid instructor ? Do you want to teach the HSE First Aid at Work courses ?
If so then you are not alone, however starting out on the route to being an instructor is something that people often find challenging.
A quick vox pop amongst our team of first aid instructors here at Carlton Training came up with the following advice for anybody considering going into this as a career :
- It’s hard work, but rewarding. You’ll be teaching a wide range of people both the practical and theoretical parts of the subject plus you’ll be doing this to a deadline as candidates will expect to gain these skills within the course. This gives you the opportunity to see people learn, develop and progress and how your teaching helps people to improve themselves.
- You’ll need to be an enthusiast for change. First aid is an ever changing field and you’ll need to relish updates, changes and improvements to what you teach. With a dynamic and open mindset you’ll take all this in your stride.
- It’s a job for a people person. Teaching people first aid relies heavily on being good at interacting with people, you don’t have to be the life and soul of the party, but an affinity with people and the knack of getting on well with people from all walks of life are key.
If being a fist aid instructor sounds good to you then the best way to start is to :
- Make sure your own first aid knowledge and practice is right up to date.
Your CV should include the latest First aid at Work qualification along with any other first aid courses you wish to teach eg. Paediatric First Aid. Check that you have built up evidence of your first aid knowledge and experience. - Get qualified to teach.
You’ll need a dedicated teaching qualification, and if you haven’t go one of these the best one to go for is the Level 3 AET (Award in Education and Training) which is a nationally recognised qualification for teaching adults. Taking this qualification will give you the skills and confidence to start teaching. Avoid companies (and even some colleges) advertising “HSE Approved Instructor Courses” as these things do not exist – it is up to each first aid training provider to make sure its instructors are competent and suitably qualified for their work. - Get your assessor qualification.
As well as teaching people and important role that first aid instructors play is assessing – that means checking that they can carry out first aid. This has now become an integral part of the job as candidates need to be properly assessed if they are to gain any of the current qualifications such as Level 3 First Aid at Work, Level 2 Emergency First Aid at Work or the Ofsted-recognised Level 3 Paediatric First Aid. This involves checking peoples’ skills on the course, and all instructors entering the industry from October 2015 will need to have a proper assessing qualification such as the Level 3 Award in Assessing Vocationally Related Achievement
‹ Previous
Back to Blog
