AECTP First Aid Trainer course development
We are currently developing a first aid trainer course. The course will be offered to first aid trainers employed by AECTP members or new trainer candidates. The main objective of the course is to assess (and, where necessary, develop) candidates’ first aid trainer knowledge and skills relevant for the delivery of first aid training that includes assessment and revalidation of NZQA unit standards 6402, 6401 and 6400.
Currently, the only publicly available first aid trainer certificate is the New Zealand Resuscitation Council (NZRC) Emergency Care Instructor Certificate at Level 2 (ECI 2). This certificate has several limitations for first aid trainers involved in unit standard based training. The AECTP has offered a CPR update during the annual conference for several years but that has been limited in scope and there has not been any knowledge assessment or development. The AECTP Board has decided that our members and individual first aid trainers involved in unit standard based first aid training would benefit from a bespoke AECTP First Aid Trainer Course.
The intention of this project is to develop a course that:
1. Develops and assesses candidates’ first aid trainer knowledge and skills relevant for the delivery of first aid training that includes assessment and revalidation of unit standards 6402, 6401 and 6400;
2. Assesses candidates’ knowledge and skills at a level that is equivalent or higher than the New Zealand Resuscitation Council (NZRC) Emergency Care Instructor course and therefore provides a certificate that, under CMR 0230, is recognised as demonstrating equivalent knowledge and skills to the NZRC Emergency Care Instructor Certificate at Level 2 (ECI 2);
3. Is developed and quality assured by the AECTP to optimise relevance, quality and responsiveness to learner and stakeholder feedback;
4. Is available to qualified first aid trainers and new trainer candidates;
provides flexible access through a combination of online learning and assessment and practical assessment sessions; and
5. Is no more expensive (likely considerably cheaper) than the NZRC ECI2 course with all revenue used to cover the expenses of course development and delivery and, if revenue is higher than costs, support the core work of the AECTP.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Question 1: Has there been any thought to the duration of the new course? ECI 2 takes no more than 3 hours.
Answer: As we are still in the early stages of developing the content for the online assessment we cannot yet provide an exact duration. The course will most likely be longer than the ECI 2 course as the online assessment will be broader in scope and more comprehensive. The exact time will depend on whether candidates have the knowledge to answer questions correctly or need to review information to obtain the necessary competency level. The practical session will likely be 1-1.5 hours long.
Question 2: Will this mean that Instructors will no longer be able to attend an ECI 2 revalidation outside of the course that AECTP creates?
Answer: No, for compliance purposes under CMR 0230 the intention is for this course certificate to be accepted as demonstrating equivalent knowledge and skills.