What we're doing
St John Ambulance’s aim is to support the healthcare of the nation, so the safety and wellbeing of everyone is our paramount concern. We constantly monitor government advice and are making staged changes to working safely with COVID-19 measures to determine the number of places available on each of our courses. See below for important changes to requirements for courses running from 13 April.
We are following Resuscitation Council UK guidance to omit the practical demonstration of rescue breaths from our first aid training courses - find out more.
We will be keeping our training venues well ventilated by having windows open. We advise delegates to wear layers of clothing that can be added or removed.
In order to safeguard everyone on our courses, if you have covid symptoms, please contact our customer services team to go over the options available to you.
Social distancing and the requirements for face coverings are being reviewed in line with the government steps, reflecting reduced levels of risk and resulting in the measures below*:
Personal Protection Equipment
Browse our range of personal protection equipment, from disposable gloves to face masks, find everything you need to keep your employees safe.
Guidance from 13 April 2022
- If you have covid symptoms, please contact our customer services team to go over the options available to you.
- You are encouraged to wear a face covering when attending training venues, free disposable face masks are available at our venues.
- We will continue to train the practical elements of courses safely, asking delegates to wear suitable PPE when working in close proximity with other delegates or staff.
We will continue to review and update our measures in line with the latest government guidance.
Our safety measures
We are implementing the following measures to keep your delegates and our employees safe:
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In order to safeguard everyone on our courses, if a delegate has COVID-19 symptoms, they should not attend their training course.
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We maintain an element of social distancing during training, but delegates will work in groups on practical exercises at which time PPE will be encouraged. Gloves and face coverings will be available for delegate use.
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There is hand sanitisation available and regular hand-washing protocols in place.
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We maintain our rigorous manikin cleaning protocols.
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Our rooms are well ventilated, we advise delegates to wear layers of clothing that can be added or removed.
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We regularly review our face covering rules. Click here to view our latest face covering guidance.
Practical demonstration and assessment of rescue breaths while COVID transmission remains high
In response to the increased prevalence of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and the increased transmission of the new variants, St John Ambulance along with the First Aid Quality Partnership and Health Safety Executive, support the position of Resuscitation Council UK that practical demonstration of rescue breaths may be omitted from first aid training courses, as a precautionary measure while COVID transmission rates remain high.
This means that for our adult first aid courses delegates will temporarily not demonstrate rescue breaths during their CPR assessment. This will not affect the validity or duration of your certification.
There is good evidence that rescue breaths form an essential part of CPR in children and infants. The benefits of teaching rescue breaths to those who have a duty to provide first aid to these groups far outweighs the extremely small theoretical risk of transmission in the classroom whilst practising this skill. For this reason, rescue breaths will continue to be taught on paediatric first aid courses.
Our venues and risk assessments
For the protection of both staff and customers, each training venue has been subject to a comprehensive risk assessment and approved by our Health and Safety Team.
A number of additional safety measures are in place and include venue deep cleaning, sanitisation stations and adaptations to training practices. These Safe Systems in Work are in line with both government and public health guidelines and are subject to regular SJA reviews and adaptations.
Whilst not compulsory, face coverings will be available for all students and disposable gloves will also be provided for practical training sessions.
