First aid mobile skills unit provides CPD opportunity in off season

With club rugby now finished for a couple of months, why not upskill your management and volunteers' first aid skills?

Scottish Rugby’s Welfare Manager Dr. Karen Barclay will be leading first aid and CPD sessions across the country from early July until mid-August.

Sessions for health care professionals will use the simulation suite in a mobile skills unit, provided by the NHS’ Clinical Skills Managed Educational Network.

“Simulation is used a lot in training in the NHS to better train for low frequency, high stress emergencies or situations. However, we haven’t previously had the chance to use this great resource as a tool for CPD in rugby medicine.

“So, it is a great opportunity for the medical community working pitchside in Scottish club rugby to come together and learn from each other by rehearsing for these situations,” Dr Barclay said.

There will be 12 First Aid skills refresher sessions and 18 sessions for health care professionals (HCPs). These sessions are two hours long and cover more advanced pitchside skills using scenarios in the mobile skills unit. Some of these sessions utilise the simulation suite to offer high fidelity training.

Each of the 12 AED/CPR session will be an hour long, and focus on how to recognise a sudden cardiac arrest and how to manage this by delivering chest compressions and using an AED (heart start machine). The session will also cover how to manage choking episodes in both adults and children. These sessions are suitable for everyone, and no previous first aid experience is required.

“We hope this will be a good learning opportunity and good fun too. To have this resource for free is just fantastic and we’re very thankful to NHS Education for Scotland.”

“Sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere and to anyone. We know that most of our clubs do have access to a heart start machine (AED). So, Scottish Rugby is very keen to use the skills bus to help support clubs by delivering CPR/AED sessions to ensure club volunteers are more confident to deliver CPR and use the AED if a situation arises,” Dr Barclay said.

First aid/immediate care and AED/CPR sessions will be held at the following venues: