Supporting our Section Teams to gain first aid skills
In 2024, as we adopt a team based-approach to volunteering, the First Response learning requirements for volunteers in Section roles will be changing. Colin Davidson, Assistant UK Commissioner for People (Learning), explores the roles which will be impacted and the reasons behind the change.
Activities are at the heart of everything we do in Scouts. We give young people adventures and opportunities to develop new skills, and we know our adult volunteers enjoy them too.
For any activity to be delivered successfully, it must be delivered safely. This includes making sure there’s adequate first aid equipment and experience in the team delivering the activity.
First Response, the first aid training offered at Scouts, gives our adult volunteers the vital skills and knowledge they need to provide basic first aid if an incident occurs.
It’s for this reason that, in 2024, we’ll be changing the requirements for First Response for some of our Section roles. This allows more volunteers who work directly with young people to gain this key skill.
What’s changing and when?
We’ve always encouraged our adult volunteers to complete their First Response learning, even if they may not need to use it in their role. Wider than Scouts, it’s vital for as many people to know basic first aid, and while we hope you will never have to use it, it’s always handy to have the knowledge and skills just in case the worse does happen.
In 2024, we’re going to be adopting a team-based approach to volunteering, where roles and responsibilities will be split across a team rather than falling on one individual.
Currently all roles which require a Wood Badge, such as our Group Scout Leaders, District Commissioners, and our Section Leaders and Assistant Section Leaders, are expected to have completed First Response or some first aid learning through another professional body.
As we adopt the team-based volunteering approach, any volunteer who works directly with young people on a regular basis or is reasonably required to step in and work directly with young people, will be required to complete First Response or an equivalent training course.
This will mean that First Response learning will be required for all:
- Group Lead Volunteers
- Section Team Members
- Section Team Leaders
- 14-24 Team Leaders
The biggest impact of this change will be for our Section Assistants who transition into a new role within the Section Team.
Non-Sectional Team Leaders and Supporters, and adults who meet for non-adventurous activities, will not be expected to complete First Response. Occasional Helpers will also not be required to complete the learning. If volunteers in these roles wish to complete First Response, they will still be able to register for courses locally.
The Roles Table in Chapter 16 of our Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) will be updated to reflect this change and should continue to be used as the reference point to understand the learning that needs to be completed for each role.
Why are we making this change?
The safety our young people is our number one priority. Every young person should have direct access to first aid when taking part in any Scouts activity, and we know that parent/carers have confidence in our leaders to provide first aid if needed to.
None of our first aid rules for activities will be changing, and volunteers will need to continue to factor in first aid provision within their risk assessments for activities. This change is to empower our Section Team volunteers with the skills and knowledge for first aid, as we believe that no young person should miss out on an activity due to lack of first aid cover.
There’s also a wider positive impact on our communities, as we hope more adults will feel confident in their skills to deliver first aid if needed to.
Transitioning to these changes
The requirements will change at the point each County/Area/Region (Scotland) migrates onto our new digital system. For the ten Early Adopter Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) this will be in mid-February 2024, followed by all other Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) at the end of April 2024.
From the point of migration, volunteers who’ll now need to complete their First Response will have a set transition period to complete their learning based on their situation. This will be as follows:
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New volunteers – new volunteers who join us will have 12 months from their start date to complete First Response
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Section Assistants migrating to a Section Team – volunteers who are migrating to their Section Teams will have 24 months to complete First Response from the date they move into the team
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Volunteers currently requiring First Response but haven’t completed it – for volunteers who currently need to complete First Response but haven’t yet, they will have a maximum of 24 months to complete their requirement. If a volunteer currently has less than 24 months to complete the training, their current timeframe will remain.
The renewal period for First Response will remain at 3 years. Both modules 10A and 10B are still required to complete the First Response training requirement. For anyone completing their First Response training after this transition, the renewal date will start from the day module 10A is completed. The renewal date for anyone completing the First Response training before the transition date will still be based on the date their 10B was completed.
Starting to understand the impact
We’ve asked our Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) to start to think about the impact this could if more volunteers are required to complete the learning.
Before making this decision, we looked at the data for an average County/Area/Region (Scotland) to discover how many additional volunteers would need to complete this training over a month compared to the current requirement. For an average County/Area/Region (Scotland) during the first two-year transition period, 11 extra people would need to attend a course per month compared with the current training requirements. Post the transition period, it would reduce to seven extra volunteers per month.
Please remember, that there is no one size fits all approach to offering First Response, and there are several different options your County/Area/Region (Scotland) may offer including:
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Face-to-face courses – either in one 6-hour long session or through three shorter two-hour sessions covering both 10A and 10B modules
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Online delivery – three two-hour online trainer-led sessions to cover 10A, followed by a short 20-minute practical assessment to cover 10B
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Blended delivery – a two and a half hour e-learning module and three-hour online session to cover 10A, followed by a short 20-minute practical assessment to cover 10B
Some volunteers may also have the relevant knowledge through externally delivered courses they’ve completed at work or elsewhere.
You can find more details on the delivery of First Response learning on our training pages.
Thank you
Finally, we’d like to say thank you to those across the UK who are already delivering this vital training to our volunteers. Over the past few years, there’s been a real effort to help provide volunteers with this important life skill, and now more volunteers than ever know how to perform basic first aid.
We’d also like to thank you all those currently in Section roles who not only do a great job to keep our young people safe and prevent incidents from happening but continue to follow our crucial safety procedures and prioritise our learning to make sure they’re prepared if an incident does occur.
We hope you understand the reason behind this important decision, and we will continue to make sure we provide extra support to help our volunteers keep our young people, other adults and communities safe.