In conjunction with provincial guidelines, below are the steps that Pacific First Aid Ltd. is taking to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 during any in-class training sessions.
BEFORE THE CLASS
We kindly ask any one (both participants and instructors) with symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and painful swallowing, to stay home and not attend the training session. Instead, anyone with these symptoms should self-isolate at home for a minimum of 14 days, and contact us to reschedule their in-class training at a future date.
Anyone under the direction of the provincial health officer to self-isolate must follow these instructions, and anyone who has arrived from outside of Canada, or who is a contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case, must self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms prior to attending in-class training.
Please be assured that all non-disposable equipment and manikins used during the class will have been cleaned and sanitized prior to student use. The cleaning process:
- Follows Health Canada guidance, including updated COVID-19 guidance
- Is based on manufacturer’s directions
- Adheres to use instructions for cleaning products
All surfaces in the classroom will have been cleaned and sanitized prior to the start of each training session.
As students enter the facility, they are to
- Wear a mask
- Sanitize their hands
- Have their temperature scanned
DURING THE CLASS
Your instructor will review the procedures we take during all classes to minimize the rise of infection. When using manikins and other training devices, we will follow these practices:
- In-person classes are limited to 8-16 participants depending heavily on the size of the classroom
- All participants/instructors must perform proper hand hygiene using soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. At a minimum, hand hygiene should be performed at the following times:
- Beginning and end of the class
- Before and after breaks
- Before and after skills practice sessions (when wearing gloves, hand hyenine should be done before putting on gloves and after removing them)
- All students must wear gloves and masks during all hands -on skills demonstrations, as proper first aid protocol during all skills scenarios.
- Maintain physical distance – students and trainer must maintain a physical distance of at least two metres (six feet) from other people during all aspects of training, including both seated and standing activities. Where this is not practical, students and trainers must wear a minimum of a non-medical mask. Face masks must be properly discarded after each use and users must immediately wash their hands
- Hands-on demonstrations to be completed with use of manikins only
- 1:1 student to manikin will apply
- Manikins should be spaced at least 1 m apart during training
- Use a disposable barrier device when training on a manikin. Face shields or pocket masks will be used to avoid direct contact with the manikin. Each participant will have their own face shield or pocket mask for use during the course. Instructors will review the decontamination policy with participants
- All “high-touch” surfaces in the classroom (door knobs, tables) will be cleaned by the instructor during breaks throughout the training session.
AFTER CLASS
- All manikins are cleaned using an approved process after each class. The cleaning process follows the manikin manufacturer’s directions and the process recommended by the cleaning product manufacturers.
- All AED trainers are cleaned using an approved process after each class. The cleaning process follows the AED trainer manufacturer’s directions and the process recommended by the cleaning product manufacturers.
- Dressings/bandages will be washed or discarded after each use.
- The students are asked to assist in the first part of the cleaning process by wiping down and sanitizing all the non-disposable equipment used during the day.
- Any other non-disposable equipment is also cleaned according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Adapted
Adapted from “COVID-19 Guidelines for In-Class Training” by Alert First-Aid Inc.
