The Department for Education (DfE) have now published their updated guidance, with an implementation date 3 April 2017.
Please see the DfE website for the full statutory guidance document.
The guidance underpins the latest updates to the Level 3 Paediatric First Aid qualifications and we would urge all centres (and their staff) offering these qualifications to make themselves familiar with the relevant sections of the document.
Please see Section 3.25 (Page 22) and Annex A (Page 36) for full details.
In summary:
- At least one person who has a current paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present, and must accompany children on outings.
- The certificate must be for a full course consistent with the criteria set out in Annex A of the guidance.
- PFA training must be renewed every three years and be relevant for workers
- All newly qualified entrants to the early years workforce who have completed a level 2 and/or level 3 qualification on or after 30 June 2016, must also have either a full PFA or an emergency PFA certificate within three months of starting work
Interestingly the DfE also suggest that first aid certificates are displayed or made available to parents. Our advice regarding this suggestion would be that certificates should be safely stored by the holder of the qualification. Rather than have certificates on show and potentially becoming damaged or lost we would recommend copies are made available or are on show.
