In Scouts, we give our young people adventures and opportunities to develop new skills through the activities we offer. 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 leadership 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 manage incidents and provide basic first aid to our young people and adults.
It’s for this reason that in 2024 we’ll be changing the requirements for some of our Section roles allowing more adults to gain this key skill.
Roles which will be required to complete First Response
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, any role which requires a Wood Badge is expected to have completed some first aid learning either through First Response in Scouts or another external 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.
This will mean that First Response will be required for:
- Section Team Leaders
- Section Team Members
- Group Lead Volunteers
- District 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. 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?
Safety of our young people is our number one priority. We believe, 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.
This was the main driver behind the decision, providing more volunteers in our Section Teams with the skills and knowledge to deliver basic first aid. No young person should miss out on activities due to a lack of first aid provision. We also know there is a wider positive impact on our communities, if more adults feel confident in their ability to deliver first aid.
None of our first aid rules for activities will be changing, and we’d ask that volunteers continue to factor in first aid provision within their risk assessments for activities.
Timings and transition periods
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:
- New volunteers – new volunteers who join us will have 12 months from their start date to complete First Response
- 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
- 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 time frame will remain.
The renewal period for First Response will remain at three years. Both modules 10A and 10B are still required to complete the First Response training requirement, however renewal dates will start from the day module 10A is completed.
Starting to understand the impact
Now is the perfect time to start thinking about the impact this could have on your County/Area/Region (Scotland) and the volunteers who will now need to complete First Response.
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, there are many different options to offer First Response, including face-to-face courses, online delivery with a practical validation and the blended approach. Some volunteers may 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 on our training pages.