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Find out more about our Red Cross classes here. First aid training is an investment, not a cost. Register today and learn to save a life.
Did you know WorkSafeBC accepts Canadian Red Cross Blended Standard First Aid as OFA Level 1 equivalent?
Instead of employees taking two full days off work to attend a classroom-based course, they are now out of the workplace for a single day. This reduces the need for employers to find cover, saving time and money.
Standard First Aid is a Canadian Red Cross training course that includes essential lifesaving first aid and CPR skills for the workplace and home. The course meets legislation requirements for provincial/territorial worker safety and insurance boards. It follows the latest first aid and CPR guidelines.
A blended course includes an online component as well as an in-person session. Students complete an online course where they learn the theory behind the first aid skills. Following this, they attend a practical skills class where they get hands-on practice with equipment in the classroom. During this session, they will complete a multiple-choice test.
With the regular Standard First Aid program, students attend 16 hours of in-person training in the classroom. Classes usually take place over two days. With Blended Standard First Aid training, participants complete the online, theory portion of the course at home or in the workplace. Following this, they attend a full-day, in-person skills session in the classroom.
The Blended Standard First Aid skills session can take place onsite in the workplace or at a local training venue. You can schedule a group training session at your workplace or register your team members on a public course.
Standard First Aid with CPR C Blended includes 16 hours of training – 8 hours of online learning + 8 hours in-person training. Online learning time will vary depending on the learner.
Regular Standard First Aid with CPR C includes 16 hours of in-person training
Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR certification is valid for three years from the date the certificate is issued. After three years, the full course must be repeated to maintain certification. A shorter, recertification class may be taken before the initial certificate expires.
Interested in Private Group Training for your team? Please contact us and ask for a quote.
Safe + Sound Private group training, onsite at Vancouver Film Studios.
When I got up that morning, I wasn’t expecting to wind up electrocuted and left for dead. The consequences of a careless mistake taught me a valuable safety lesson, and by sharing it with others, I hope to save some lives.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly that fateful day until I heard,
Zzzt zzzt zzzt — and a man shouting at me,
“Lie down on the ground! Don’t move!”
“What happened?” I asked.
“You touched a cable, and you’ve been electrocuted,” he replied. Keep still.
I lay on the ground — shocked.
As I looked around, it became apparent a bus had crashed, and there were multiple casualties. I listened to the cries of the injured passengers while bystanders asked questions in urgent voices,
“Did you see what happened?”
“Where are you hurt?”
“Did you hit your head?”
“You — in the blue shirt, call 911 and report back to me”.
Utter chaos.
Most unbearable was being unable to help. From my horizontal position, I assessed the scene and thought about everything I could be doing for the injured people around me.
I’d been trained in first aid, but because I’d forgotten to check for danger before rushing to help, I’d become a casualty and was now useless. Silently, I coached the helpers as they gave CPR, bandaged wounds, and supported broken limbs.
Finally, the man who told me I’d been electrocuted called a stop to the proceedings.
“So,” he said, chin down, eyebrows raised, wide eyes looking pointedly at me. “What have we all learned from this exercise?” Cringing with embarrassment, I slowly raised my hand.
It was the end of a two-day Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR class and time to put our new skills to the test. The instructor had split us into two groups and told my group to wait in the hallway. After a while, we’d be called in to deal with an emergency scene and would have to give first aid to any casualties we found.
The instructor set up the room with the other class members while we waited nervously in the hallway. A few minutes later, he flung open the door with a look of panic. “Help! Quick! There’s been a terrible accident. People are injured!”
As instructed, before entering the room, I asked the question, “Is the scene safe?” The instructor paused before answering, “The scene appears — to be safe.” In hindsight, I should’ve listened more carefully to the emphasis he put on the word appears.
Hearts thumping, adrenaline pumping, my classmates and I rushed into the room and looked around. We saw injured people everywhere, moaning, groaning, crying, dying, pools of fake blood on the floor. I ran to a man lying on his back with his eyes closed. Kneeling beside him, I began to check for responsiveness, and that’s when I heard the ominous sound,
Zzzt zzzt zzzt
I looked up in confusion to find the instructor standing beside me. He told me I’d just been electrocuted and pointed to the floor by my casualty’s chest. I noticed I was kneeling on a wire trailing beneath the man’s body.
In my rush to save a life, I’d killed myself.
The instructor told me to lie quietly beside my casualty as I was now dead and unable to help him. I lay on the ground, humiliated, while the other students in my group saved their injured people. It was a humbling moment. Until that point, I’d felt pretty confident in the skills I’d learned during the course, but as I lay helpless beside my dying person, I knew I’d missed the most critical step.
I vowed NEVER to make the same mistake again.
Rushing around, not paying attention are common reasons people have accidents. That day, I learned a vital lesson. Whenever you go into a room or a new environment, always check for dangers.
Look up, down, all around. Is there something you could trip on, slip on? Is there fire, wire, gas, glass, drugs, or thugs?
Remember — If you’re killed or injured, you can’t help anyone.
I completed my training, became a Red Cross first aid instructor, and opened Safe + Sound First Aid Training (still going strong 21 years later). Over the years, I’ve taught hundreds of first aid & CPR courses and trained thousands of people. I’ve electrocuted many students in first aid scenarios. I hope it’s taught them the same valuable lesson I learned years ago. By sharing the story of my deadly mistake, I hope I’ve saved some lives.
Gill McCulloch, Owner, Safe + Sound First Aid Training Ltd.
Take a first aid course and learn to save a life.
If you need to update your first aid certification, you may be concerned about whether it’s safe to take an in-person class during COVID-19 restrictions. This article explains what you can expect in a first aid class and what we’re doing to ensure your health and safety. We hope the information below will reassure you about registering for a course or booking a private group training session for your team.
Safe + Sound First Aid Training is following WorkSafe BC and Canadian Red Cross health and safety guidelines for first aid agencies.
Click here for our full COVID-10 Health and Safety Protocols
On arrival at your first aid class, a friendly staff member will greet you and ask you to use hand sanitizer before completing a health screening questionnaire.
Participants:
Before admittance into the class, participants must complete a health questionnaire. This helps us determine if they have been ill or have had any signs of illness (fever, cough, breathing difficulties/shortness of breath, or other symptoms) within the last 24 hours, travelled outside of Canada within the previous 14 days or been in contact with someone who is ill. (Source Government of Canada https://ca.thrive.health/covid19/en) Participants with pre-existing conditions (e.g., allergies causing sneezing) are discouraged from attending training; this helps participants in the course feel secure.
Each student completes a health screening questionnaire before being admitted to class.
We require that students and instructors wear face masks during the entire class. While this is slightly inconvenient, it gives people confidence that they will remain safe while spending a day in a room with other people.
We ask participants to use hand sanitizer on arrival and wash their hands regularly throughout the day and at the end of the class. Washrooms are situated close to the classrooms.
We have reduced our class sizes to meet physical distancing guidelines in our classrooms. Each student has a two-metre square area, with their chair and all the equipment and supplies they need for the class. Students are asked to remain in their area throughout the class, except during breaks.
With current physical distancing guidelines, participants need to be separated by a minimum of 2 metres. As you can see from the image, we have arranged our classroom to create individual stations where students remain during class.
First aid workstations are situated two metres apart in the classrooms.
Participants are not required to have any physical contact with other students or the instructor. Previously, some first aid skills like the recovery position, splints and slings, required people to work in pairs. We have come up with creative ways to teach these skills without students having physical contact with others.
Each student has an adult manikin, infant manikin, AED trainer (defibrillator), and first aid supplies to use during class. There is no sharing of equipment or supplies.
First aid class workstation. Each student has their own Mankins, AED, kneeling mat and first aid supplies. No sharing or physical contact with other students.
We give each student disposable vinyl gloves and a new, disposable one-way valve and filter to use with their CPR mask. Students may take the CPR masks home with them.
Each student has a tray containing the first aid supplies they need for the day.
Following guidelines from WorkSafeBC and the Canadian Red Cross, we sanitize all first aid equipment thoroughly after use.
We hope the above information will reassure you about taking a class or booking a private class for your team. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.
Google review from Emergency Child Care First Aid CPR course participant, June 2020. Thank you Becky! More Google Reviews
First aid course information, schedules and online registration
Private Group First Aid Training
June 2020. Private onsite group training at Pacific Backlot / Vancouver Film Studios. Workers learning CPR during a Red Cross Emergency First Aid (OFA 1) class.