Introduction to First Aid
You can reduce the likelihood of accidents happening on and beyond the court during your registered netball experience by adopting robust risk management practices, but even the best laid plans won’t eradicate them completely. Immediate First Aid treatment can make a big difference to someone’s chances of recovering quickly and can even mean the difference between life or death.
Who needs to be First Aid certified and why?
Some venue operators ensure their on-site staff are certified to administer First Aid. Registered netball organisations are responsible for liaising with their venue provider to familiarise themselves with the venue’s Health and Safety policies and procedures, and to ascertain whether First Aid provision is in place during their scheduled activities as part of their organisation’s overall risk management. As emergency First Aid provision is a mandatory requirement to comply with England Netball’s minimum operating standards, if the venue operator does not provide a designated First Aider, the registered netball organisation must fulfil this duty of care for its participants.
Duty of Care
It’s worth noting that all players, coaches, officials, facility operators and competition organisers have a shared duty to participate in environments that are as safe as practically possible for everyone involved. This duty is referred to, in the eyes of the law, as the ‘Duty of Care’. Learn more here.
Netball Coaches
England Netball regards First Aid as an essential skill for netball coaches. As such, First Aid training is a mandatory pre-requisite for netball coaches entering England Netball’s learning and development pathway at Level 2 or above. However, qualified coaches are responsible for maintaining their level of competency in this area. For that reason, a registered netball organisation must never make assumptions about a coach’s certification status. If in doubt, ask the coach for a copy of their First Aid certificate and check that it is in date. Refresher certificates must accompany original certification.
Checklist
This checklist covers the basic First Aid provision that a registered netball organisation must have in place during registered netball activity.
Do you have:
- An appropriately trained and certified First Aider on-site and available during all netball activity?
- At least one fully stocked First Aid Kit available at every training session or event?
- An Accident Register that is kept up to date with all incidents recorded?
Incident Recording Guidelines can be found in England Netball’s Summary of Cover here.
Best practice First Aid requirements for registered netball organisations
England Netball recommends at least one Designated First Aider per court or per team (max ratio 1:30 players) who has undertaken one of the following courses and has an in-date certification (or a supporting in-date refresher to accompany the original certification):
- A 6hr Face to Face Emergency First Aid at Work qualification delivered by one of the following Voluntary Aid Societies: The British Red Cross or St John’s Ambulance;
- A 6hr Face to Face First Aid at Work (FAW) or Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course that is OFQUAL regulated;
- A 6hr Face to Face First Aid at Work (FAW) or Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course that is registered with The First Aid Industry Body (FAIB).
Mandatory Minimum First Aid Requirements
As a minimum, you must ensure you have at least one on-site Designated First Aider during your netball activity who has undertaken one of the following courses and has an in-date certification (or a supporting in-date refresher to accompany the original certification):
- A 6hr Face to Face Emergency First Aid at Work qualification delivered by one of the following Voluntary Aid Societies: The British Red Cross or St John’s Ambulance;
- A 6hr Face to Face First Aid at Work (FAW) or Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course that is OFQUAL regulated;
- A 6hr Face to Face First Aid at Work (FAW) or Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course that is registered with The First Aid Industry Body (FAIB).
Where the training provider falls outside of those shown in the list above, you, or the venue operator (depending on who is responsible for deployment) must conduct Due Diligence against the First Aid Training Provider to ensure the training complies with the HSE GEIS 3 document.
A note for “In training” coaches
Anyone undertaking their England Netball Level 2 or Level 3 Coaching qualification must comply with England Netball’s course pre-requisites, which includes First Aid training delivered by specific awarding bodies. Find out more here or contact qualifications@englandnetball.co.uk.
A note for qualified medical practitioners
First Aid treatment administered by a qualified medical practitioner, such as a qualified Doctor or Physiotherapist, is excluded from England Netball’s programme of insurance as these professions carry their own insurance.
Questions
For further information, please contact England Netball.