First Aid and CPR Training for Australian Businesses

First aid and CPR are two of the most useful, and most overlooked, skills in today’s business landscape. Healthcare, accounting, education, software development, or any other industry you can name requires a unique set of skills for success. But despite their diversity, first aid and CPR are skills which are applicable to every workplace in the world.

First aid and CPR are skills used to provide basic life support in the event of a medical emergency. But they're used by more than just doctors and other healthcare workers. Most modern businesses have some kind of first aid officer on staff, ready to step in and lend assistance when unforeseeable accidents occur and someone gets hurt. They also keep a first aid kit somewhere on their premises and ensure that it’s always fully stocked. Whether large or small, those businesses seeking to stay ahead of the curve make sure they’re first aid compliant.

Those businesses which go the extra mile do so by ensuring that their whole staff is fully trained in basic first aid. An emergency can happen to anyone at any time, and when they do, those businesses who are prepared are the ones where everyone has been trained. And through regular refresher training, these skills remain second nature so they can easily be called upon when the time comes that they are needed.

First Aid Pro is an Australian registered training provider of high-quality first aid and CPR courses. Part of their mission is to spread these skills to as many people as possible so that everyone holds the potential to save a life. Their first aid and CPR training courses are open to virtually all individuals, but through their group and business training options they are able to reach even more people and ensure that Australian businesses are fully equipped for when the worst happens.

First Aid and CPR for Businesses 

Providing first aid and CPR training to one’s organisation has a significant impact on business operations through workplace safety and productivity, in addition to its obvious, life-saving benefits. By enrolling your employees in these training courses they can learn skills such as how to assess and prioritise the scene of an incident, and how to provide various forms of medical treatment and care, including applying pressure to stop bleeding, stabilising breaks and fractures, and, of course, how to perform CPR.

It should be noted that First Aid Pro’s first aid training courses include CPR training, however they also offer a separate CPR training course. CPR is a part of first aid but it is also specialised enough that it is considered its own discipline. This is because first aid training teaches generalised skills for a variety of different situations, while CPR is a skill designed for situations specifically where someone has lost consciousness, has stopped breathing, or their heart has stopped breathing. The benefit of having a separate CPR course is to provide training to those too busy for a full first aid course, or those in need of refresher training. CPR refresher training should be taken yearly compared to first aid which should be refreshed every three years. 

Not every workplace seems dangerous. You might work somewhere safe like an office or even from the comfort of your own home. It’s not as likely that an injury will occur in one of these places compared to a construction site. But the thing about first aid emergencies is that they can happen anywhere at any time and to anyone. It might be a small injury which spirals out of control, a catastrophic equipment failure, or something completely unpredictable. But whether it’s a broken bone, someone falling unconscious, or something much worse, there’s no business safe from the random unlucky chance of a first aid emergency. 

The consequences of having no staff trained in first aid or no stocked first aid kit on your business’ premises are many. There are the more obvious and inherent negative consequences of an injury, but when a first aid emergency occurs and isn’t quickly resolved, the business suffers too. Losses in productivity and profit are nothing compared to the impact on human life, but they are nonetheless examples of how remaining untrained in first aid can take your business down a peg. Having employees trained in first aid and CPR ensures that immediate assistance can be provided in the event of accidents or medical emergencies, reducing the severity of injuries and the negative impact on your business, to say nothing of the potential to save lives. 

Benefits for Every Business

There’s no business, no workplace, that doesn’t stand to benefit from having at least one person on staff training in first aid or CPR. And the more people trained in these skills, the greater the benefit. Following are a few broad, general examples that show just how true this is. 

Large Offices

Consider an office where hundreds of people work. With more employees comes a much higher likelihood of accidents, and that’s even with the consideration that places like accounting firms or law firms are significantly less dangerous. The highest risk of injury is probably something like a papercut.

But then there are those other medical emergencies. Things like slips, trips, falls, and even cardiac arrest. These accidents are random, they can happen to anyone at any time. With so many employees, there’s no excuse as to why none of them shouldn’t know CPR and first aid, and be able to help the person out while waiting for emergency services to arrive. 

Small Businesses

A smaller business means fewer employees, and this in turn means that there are fewer people on hand to help out in an emergency. This makes it so much more vital to have someone on staff trained in first aid and CPR.

Small businesses are also much more likely than larger businesses to be places where serious accidents can occur. Consider wood workshops, metal shops, mechanics, and other similar businesses and the dangerous, high powered tools in use. Not only are accidents more likely to occur, but they’re also likely to be serious. Having someone around who knows how to stabilise serious wounds becomes particularly essential in these situations. 

Outdoor Workplaces

Many outdoor workplaces share a lot in common with small workplaces. The first thing that comes to mind for most people when they think of working outdoors is a construction site. These kinds of workplaces are filled with dangerous, industrial machinery which can cause incredibly serious injuries. 

It goes without saying that first aid and CPR training are essential in these kinds of situations. Normal practice is that it’s mandatory to have someone on site trained in these skills in the event of an emergency, as well as a fully stocked first aid kit. That said, the more people trained in these skills, the faster the response time in an emergency and the better the chances of stabilising the injured person. When it comes to first aid and CPR, you can never have too many people able to help out.

At Home

Working from home is becoming increasingly commonplace. Whether working offsite for a large organisation or running one’s own small business from the comfort of their own home, for many people their home is now also their workplace. And like any workplace, injuries can occur at any time. Often with a workforce consisting of only a single employee, it’s more important than ever to know first aid. When there’s no one else around, the only person who can help you is yourself. 

When it comes to injuries that occur in the home, children are the most common victims, even when it’s not being used for work (and on that note, this also demonstrates the importance of first aid in schools). Kids are prone to accidents, scrapes, trips, falls, and broken bones, all of which are best treated if they’re supported with first aid while waiting for emergency help to arrive. 

Your Workplace

Picture your own workplace. Maybe you work in one of the specific examples we’ve listed above. If that’s the case then you’re already likely aware of what the most common accidents are. Maybe you work somewhere completely different. If that’s the case then hopefully this article has gotten you thinking about what kinds of accidents can occur. In either case, the important part is whether or not you know how to respond to them.

If the answer is no, then getting first aid and CPR training should be your top priority. Whether you’re an employee, or a business owner, whether you work in Australia or abroad, the only way to be prepared for a medical emergency is to get first aid and CPR training.

Australian Locations

First Aid Pro has training centres all over Australia. With options in first aid including CPR and separate CPR training at each of their locations, they’ve made sure to cover as much of the country as possible. So whether you’re in Queensland looking for first aid courses in Cairns or Townsville First Aid Courses, in Melbourne or Victoria, Sydney or all the way on the other side of the country in Perth, they’ve spread their knowledge all over Australia. Even in the capital with their first aid and CPR course Canberra.

When it comes to first aid and CPR training for Australian businesses, First Aid Pro delivers the best solutions. Even for individuals, interested in learning these essential and life-saving skills for their own interest in their own time, First Aid Pro’s doors are open.