First aid courses

Mrs Garth Brooks

Here's a stupid question but are they useful when looking for work. Or does it really matter?

First Aid Ireland

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

Here's a stupid question but are they useful when looking for work. Or does it really matter?

Depends on the job. If you're an IT consultant, it probably won't make a huge difference. But it's highly valued in childcare and retail work.

But the best reason for doing a first aid course is to gain the knowledge for everyday life, and not just work.

lmmoonbeam1976

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

Here's a stupid question but are they useful when looking for work. Or does it really matter?

in some jobs they will ask if you have any first aid training -- i have cfr and in the process of doing emt parttime

kingdavid

Hi
It may also come in handy to help other people, I had a first aid training every year for 16years i was a underground worker a miner for 22years i help a lot off people .good luck

First Aid Ireland

lmmoonbeam1976 wrote: »

in some jobs they will ask if you have any first aid training -- i have cfr and in the process of doing emt parttime

Can I ask why you're doing the EMT course?

There's an awful lot of people in Ireland who've done it over the last few years, and very few have managed to get jobs out of it. On top of that, it's hard to get the continuing education to stay on the register.

I left Ireland for a few years, and when I came back lots of people had done the course.

I'm just curious whether most people do it for interest, or whether it's to try and get employment from it.

It's a good course, though. Make sure you find out what the pass rate is from your training centre, though. From what I hear, almost half the people who sit the PHECC EMT exams fail. So be sure to find a training centre with a high pass rate.

Mr. Loverman

I work in IT and did a first aid course. Made zero difference to my job prospects. In fact, I'd almost say it probably damaged my job prospects as it's a bit weird for an IT person to have a first aid qualification IMO.

First Aid Ireland

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I work in IT and did a first aid course. Made zero difference to my job prospects. In fact, I'd almost say it probably damaged my job prospects as it's a bit weird for an IT person to have a first aid qualification IMO.

I'd say that would be an unusual response.

I've trained lots of office workers in first and and defibrillator use. You just don't know when somebody is going to collapse in front of you. You might be out for a walk when it happens, or it might happen at home.

In Ireland there's a big focus on learning first aid for your job. But most accidents happen at home. I personally think people should learn first aid and CPR, whatever their job is. But I am biased :P

Mrs OBumble

Madness for a company to train a highly paid IT worker vs a lower paid admin person who's less likely to move jobs. Opportunity costs and all. This is the sort of weirdness that Mr Loverman means (or at least my interpretation of it!)

Some IT folk talk their way into workplace courses 'cos it's handy for their out-of-work activities, but otherwise they're not top of the list for good time use.

And sometimes troublesome employees are send on training to get them out of the office for a few days ... to give the rest of the office a holiday

notsobusy

I did one through FAS that I found fantastic. I break and school horses and also teach a little in the Pony Club and I needed the first aid to finish a qualification that meant I could teach horse riding.

The insurance company liked it when I went looking for public liability. But I'm self employed so quite different to working in an office enviroment. I would say that it's definitely not a hindrance but don't make a big deal out of it when you go for a job interview. A prospective employer might take it as a good thing that whilst you weren't working you took the initiative to do a course......

First Aid Ireland

JustMary wrote: »

Madness for a company to train a highly paid IT worker vs a lower paid admin person who's less likely to move jobs. Opportunity costs and all. This is the sort of weirdness that Mr Loverman means (or at least my interpretation of it!)

Some IT folk talk their way into workplace courses 'cos it's handy for their out-of-work activities, but otherwise they're not top of the list for good time use.

And sometimes troublesome employees are send on training to get them out of the office for a few days ... to give the rest of the office a holiday

I don't think it's madness to train anyone vs anyone in first aid. If someone is keen to learn and keen to help out, then they're a good person to have trained.

Again I'm biased. But lots of companies bring people like me in to train a stack of their employees and I've trained quite a few MDs/company owners alongside their workers.

Though in Ireland it's definitely the security guard who tends to get sent on the first aid course! But there's a movement away from that way of thinking, as we learn more about how the first few minutes can make such a huge difference in terms of survival after cardiac arrest. Slowly it's becoming unacceptable to wait 5 minutes for the security guard to arrive and give proper CPR.

dvpower

I'm in IT and I've done CPR /AED training, arranged by and paid for by the company.
While I mightn't put it on my CV, its a very good skill to have.

I don't find it at all odd that the company would arrange this kind of training - its what good employers do.

tred

JustMary wrote: »

Madness for a company to train a highly paid IT worker vs a lower paid admin person who's less likely to move jobs. Opportunity costs and all. This is the sort of weirdness that Mr Loverman means (or at least my interpretation of it!)

Some IT folk talk their way into workplace courses 'cos it's handy for their out-of-work activities, but otherwise they're not top of the list for good time use.

And sometimes troublesome employees are send on training to get them out of the office for a few days ... to give the rest of the office a holiday

I had to read this twice as I thought I was imagining stuff. You have about a 5 percent chance of surviving a heart attack if someone apply's CPR before the ambulance arrives. You have upwards of a 60 percent chance of survival if that person can use an AED. I wouldn't care who was trained in my work place, if they saved a life. And your lucky to work in a place the offers such training and also has an AED locally...your blessed. Any IT workers that are blagging their ways into courses in this day and age are far and few between. Most of the deadwood has being pulled away in IT post 2001, and even more recently. with regard to first aid, i am a recent convert. Its not about yourself or your career you should be thinking. Its about helping people that are in trouble.

Mrs OBumble

tred wrote: »

I had to read this twice as I thought I was imagining stuff. You have about a 5 percent chance of surviving a heart attack if someone apply's CPR before the ambulance arrives. You have upwards of a 60 percent chance of survival if that person can use an AED. I wouldn't care who was trained in my work place, if they saved a life. And your lucky to work in a place the offers such training and also has an AED locally...your blessed. Any IT workers that are blagging their ways into courses in this day and age are far and few between. Most of the deadwood has being pulled away in IT post 2001, and even more recently. with regard to first aid, i am a recent convert. Its not about yourself or your career you should be thinking. Its about helping people that are in trouble.

You don't need to tell me - I've done courses in the past, and probably will again in the future.

But I don't put 'em on my CV.

And when I've managed staff, it was my responsibility to make sure that there was always someone with a current cert on site. The best way to do that was to train an admin person whose job it was to be in the office, answering calls etc. Not an IT specialist who could be at meetings in any one of three buildings, away in a server room, running a workshop or whatever.

And since hourly rate of the IT person was generally three times that of the admin person, the effective cost was 66% less.

Harsh? Yes. True? Yes.

tred

JustMary wrote: »

You don't need to tell me - I've done courses in the past, and probably will again in the future.

But I don't put 'em on my CV.

And when I've managed staff, it was my responsibility to make sure that there was always someone with a current cert on site. The best way to do that was to train an admin person whose job it was to be in the office, answering calls etc. Not an IT specialist who could be at meetings in any one of three buildings, away in a server room, running a workshop or whatever.

And since hourly rate of the IT person was generally three times that of the admin person, the effective cost was 66% less.

Harsh? Yes. True? Yes.

Ridiculous response. Were now putting a value monitory to the possibility of saving a life. Rarely a post in boards has bothered my so much. There should be a charter on boards for posting such stuff. How can anyone whos in any type of management position use job segregation to decide whether someone should do a life saving course or not. Id much prefer to have someone take a course who wants to do it and learn. Be that J2EE/.Net/Linux/Hudson or firstaid. .... JustMary, people in Server rooms, and people in meeetings and people running workshops can require first aid assitance at times you know. Good night all.

Mr. Loverman

tred wrote: »

Ridiculous response. Were now putting a value monitory to the possibility of saving a life. Rarely a post in boards has bothered my so much. There should be a charter on boards for posting such stuff. How can anyone whos in any type of management position use job segregation to decide whether someone should do a life saving course or not. Id much prefer to have someone take a course who wants to do it and learn. Be that J2EE/.Net/Linux/Hudson or firstaid. .... JustMary, people in Server rooms, and people in meeetings and people running workshops can require first aid assitance at times you know. Good night all.

She isn't saying people shouldn't be trained in first aid, she is saying it makes more sense to train the office manager or HR person or someone like that rather than train the highly paid and highly mobile computer programmer. Even from a logistical point of view it makes more sense - if there is a medical problem contact the office manager or HR rather than some random programmer who you may not have spoken to before.

tred

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

She isn't saying people shouldn't be trained in first aid, she is saying it makes more sense to train the office manager or HR person or someone like that rather than train the highly paid and highly mobile computer programmer. Even from a logistical point of view it makes more sense - if there is a medical problem contact the office manager or HR rather than some random programmer who you may not have spoken to before.

Actually the point that got me, was the candiadate selection method being mentioned above. The candidate that you want to get out of the office, because they annoy people, or lowly paid amdin staff. Never read anything like it.
Anyway, From my experience doing the course, as a so called highly paid consultant, i think everyone should have some sort of exposure to first aid training. You just never know.

Mrs OBumble

tred wrote: »

Ridiculous response. Were now putting a value monitory to the possibility of saving a life. Rarely a post in boards has bothered my so much. There should be a charter on boards for posting such stuff. How can anyone whos in any type of management position use job segregation to decide whether someone should do a life saving course or not. Id much prefer to have someone take a course who wants to do it and learn. Be that J2EE/.Net/Linux/Hudson or firstaid. .... JustMary, people in Server rooms, and people in meeetings and people running workshops can require first aid assitance at times you know. Good night all.

Agreed it would be great to train everyone.

But then it should just be included in general education (along with other useful skills like reading, driving, navigation, basic calculations), rather than being an employer responsibility.

An employer just need to train enough people so that there is someone around who is skilled, not everyone.

I'm not saying that the selections methods are morally right. I'm saying that they are what is used, sometimes. And yes, that includes the annoying people.

Talk to a trainer sometime (any field), and you'll find that courses are filled with students (who want to learn) and tourists (who've come for the holiday from their job, or to give a holiday to the rest of the office).

I'm sorry if this offends you, but I have actual real-life experience of choosing people for training in just this way. (Someone had to do the floor-warden course. No one wanted to. So what's a manager to do, but send the cheapest person.)

First Aid Ireland

I think there's 2 different arguments going on here, and they should probably separated out.

Is it "madness" to train any one particular group in first aid? No. Not at all, as a general principle.

The other argument seems to revolve around whether business decisions have to be made regarding who you train.

Businesses and IT professionals and janitors and security guards are all different. They all operate in different environments and within different structures.

If the IT guy is bringing you in 300 quid per hour and works as a contractor in different sites, then you might not want to send him on a first aid course.

If your security guard stays in a hut in your car park away from the main bulk of your staff, then you may elect to train the IT manager who works closely with the 20 people on his floor.

I've trained all kinds of everybody in first aid. Once you start running scenarios with multiple stab wound and defibrillators etc and people start realising that they can deal with it, then they tend to get stuck in and enjoy themselves.

Whether people put it on their CV or not is up to them. I don't know how it could be anything but an advantage. At worst, its effect will be neutral.

I said it before and I said it again....even if it put me out of business, I'd rather we were teaching CPR and first aid at school and in college, with free refresher courses in community centres as people get older. It's one of those things that has proven to be life-saving and that anyone can learn. For that reason I'd never say it's "madness" to train anyone. The wrong business decision perhaps. But what value a life etc etc

Mr. Loverman

First Aid Ireland wrote: »

Whether people put it on their CV or not is up to them. I don't know how it could be anything but an advantage. At worst, its effect will be neutral.

At a company I used to work for, whenever a first aid course was offered, the dossers would ask to go on it so they could have a few days off work.

If I was interviewing someone now (would be IT related) and I saw a first aid course on their CV, I would ask them if they were elected to go on the course or asked to go on the course...

But that's just me, I'm super careful to avoid hiring duds. I like to use all available information to determine if someone has a good work ethic or not.

Disclaimer: I am aware the best person ever could have asked to go on a first aid course. I am not saying everyone who asks to go on a first aid course or is elected to go on a first aid course is a dosser.

First Aid Ireland

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

At a company I used to work for, whenever a first aid course was offered, the dossers would ask to go on it so they could have a few days off work.

If I was interviewing someone now (would be IT related) and I saw a first aid course on their CV, I would ask them if they were elected to go on the course or asked to go on the course...

But that's just me, I'm super careful to avoid hiring duds. I like to use all available information to determine if someone has a good work ethic or not.

Disclaimer: I am aware the best person ever could have asked to go on a first aid course. I am not saying everyone who asks to go on a first aid course or is elected to go on a first aid course is a dosser.

While I appreciate that our own experiences mould our opinions, I don't see how the possession or otherwise of a first aid cert gives you any info about the work ethic of a person.

There's a lot of momentum behind trying to get as many member of the public trained up to at least CPR standard right now. It would be a real shame from a public health perspective if employers started regarding first aid certs as a negative thing.

Thankfully, in my experience, I've never come across a company owner who regards it as anything other than a positive.