New nursery and pre-school staff will be legally required to undertake paediatric first aid for the first time, thanks to new government proposals unveiled today. The new proposals will mean newly qualified staff with a childcare Level 2 and 3 qualification must have an emergency paediatric first aid or full paediatric first certificate in order to count in the EYFS ratios.
The training proposals will be subject to a full consultation during the next Parliamentary session and are expected to come into effect by September 2016. The proposals will cover all early years settings except childminders, who are already required to have paediatric first aid qualification as part of their registration requirement.
The government has also announced today it is extending a special deal enabling schools to buy life-saving defibrillator machines at reduced prices to all early years settings including holiday and out-of-school providers. Defibrillators are easy-to-use machines that could mean the difference between life and death for a child suffering from cardiac arrest.