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QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work +F (RQF)
One day. The first regulated qualification written for first aid on Forestry Commission land, and still the benchmark for forestry work that is not in the higher risk bracket.
About this course
Forestry has its own first aid problem. The casualty is usually outdoors, often a long way from a road, sometimes alone, and the injuries that chainsaws and falling timber produce are not the injuries an office first aid course spends its time on.
The QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work +F was the first regulated qualification developed for first aid on Forestry Commission land. The +F is the forestry unit added to a standard one day Emergency First Aid at Work award.
That unit is where the work is: catastrophic bleeding and the kit for it, crush injuries, the specific problem of a casualty in a remote location, and summoning help when there is no address and no signal. A chainsaw cut to a femoral artery is a matter of minutes, and the forestry industry has known that for a long time.
The rest is full EFAW: the role of the first aider, assessing an incident, CPR, the recovery position, choking, shock, minor injuries and minor burns. For higher risk forestry activity, the three day FAW +F is the right qualification instead and we will tell you which one your work calls for.
- The role and responsibilities of an emergency first aider, consent and infection control
- Assessing an incident in woodland, including the dangers that are not the casualty
- Summoning help from a remote location, with poor signal and no postcode
- When to administer CPR, and demonstrating adult CPR on a manikin
- The recovery position and monitoring a casualty outdoors
- Choking, external bleeding and shock
- Catastrophic bleeding: direct pressure, wound packing, haemostatic dressings and tourniquets
- Crush injury and entrapment
- Minor injuries, minor burns and scalds, and what a forestry first aid kit should contain
How completing this course helps you
- QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work +F, valid for three years
- The qualification developed for first aid on Forestry Commission land
- Catastrophic bleeding skills for the injuries forestry actually produces
- A one day award that also satisfies a standard workplace EFAW requirement
Who should attend?
Forestry and woodland workers, chainsaw operators, arborists and tree surgeons, grounds and estate teams, contractors working on Forestry Commission land, and anybody working with cutting equipment in a remote outdoor setting.
Entry requirements. None. You need to be physically able to carry out practical first aid on the floor, including CPR on a manikin, and to have enough English to follow the training and the written assessment.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Choosing the right one
Which first aid course does your workplace actually need?
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 do not name a course. They tell an employer to carry out a first aid needs assessment and then provide what that assessment says is adequate, which is why two businesses next door to each other can land on different answers.
The rough shape is this. Lower hazard workplaces usually land on Emergency First Aid at Work, one day. Higher hazard workplaces, larger headcounts and anywhere with specific risks usually land on First Aid at Work, three days. Early years settings have their own rules through the Department for Education. Outdoor and remote work adds distance from the ambulance, which changes the answer again.
If you are not sure where you sit, ring us with what your people actually do and we will talk it through. Sending somebody on the wrong course costs more than the phone call.
Do the needs assessment first
Hazards, headcount, shift patterns, lone workers and how far you are from help. The HSE guidance is the starting point and it is short.
Match the course to the answer
EFAW for lower hazard, FAW for higher hazard, plus any specific qualification your setting or your insurer requires.
Plan the three years
Certificates last three years and the HSE recommends an annual refresher in between. Diary it when you book, not when it expires.
Course content
What you will cover
The qualification is structured around the management of health and safety and the practical application of risk assessment.
The emergency first aider
- The role and responsibilities of a first aider
- Minimising the risk of infection to self and others
- Consent
- Conducting a scene survey in woodland
- Conducting a primary survey
- Summoning assistance from a remote location and giving a findable position
Emergency first aid
- When to administer CPR, and demonstrating adult CPR
- The recovery position and monitoring outdoors
- Seizures
- Choking, mild and severe
- External bleeding and shock
- Minor injuries, and minor burns and scalds
The forestry unit
- Catastrophic bleeding and why it is treated first
- Direct pressure, wound packing and haemostatic dressings
- Tourniquet application and recording the time
- Crush injury and entrapment
- Casualty care while waiting for help in a remote location
- Forestry first aid kit contents and where it should be carried
Method of assessment
How this qualification is assessed
Assessment runs through the course rather than being bolted on at the end. Your tutor observes the practical work as you go, and the written paper closes it off.
Practical observation
Observed through the day: primary survey, adult CPR, the recovery position, choking, and the catastrophic bleeding sequence including a tourniquet on a training limb.
Multiple choice examination
A written paper at the end of the day, covering the emergency first aid content and the forestry unit.
Certification
Issued by QNUK and valid for three years.
Ways to learn
How you can take this course
Every route covers the same accredited syllabus and the same support. Pick the one that fits how your people work.
Classroom
Tutor-led at one of our centres, with everything provided.
Ask us to open a classroom date →or ask MB nowDates and locations
Arrange this course
There are no scheduled dates for this course at the moment. It is normally arranged around you.
Tell us roughly when you need it and how many people are going, and we will come back with dates and a price.
Also available
In-company training
We run this one to order, at your place or ours.
Onsite / in-company
Run EFAW +F at your site
We deliver anywhere in the UK, on your dates and around your shift patterns. For six or more people it is usually cheaper per head than sending everyone to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling.
Tell us roughly how many people and when, and we will come back with options and a price, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
What onsite includes
- The same tutor, materials and certification as our centres
- Your venue or one we arrange near you
- Dates and start times built around your operation
- One invoice and one point of contact for the whole group
- Content examples drawn from your own workplace
EFAW +F FAQs
Forestry. It is the forestry unit added to a standard Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, covering catastrophic bleeding, crush injury and casualty care in a remote location. QNUK note that this was the first regulated qualification for first aid on Forestry Commission land.
It comes down to the risk in the work. Higher risk activities on Forestry Commission land point at the three day First Aid at Work +F. Lower risk forestry and grounds work is usually covered by this one day award. Tell us what the work involves and we will say which one fits.
That is what the catastrophic bleeding unit exists for. Wound packing, haemostatic dressings and tourniquet application, practised on training limbs, because a major limb bleed in a wood is measured in minutes and there is no time to work it out on the day.
Yes. It is a full Emergency First Aid at Work award with the forestry unit on top, so it meets a standard workplace EFAW requirement as well as the forestry one.
Three years. The HSE also recommends an annual refresher in between, which is a half day and keeps skills and confidence current rather than letting them fade for three years at a time.
Yes, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people it is normally cheaper per head than sending everybody to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling. We work around your shift patterns.
At our centres in Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Manchester and Liverpool, at your own premises nationwide, and through our partner network where a local option suits you better. Pick a date from the board on this page or call 0330 124 2165.
QNUK, an Ofqual regulated awarding organisation. This one is QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work +F (RQF), accreditation number 603/4743/6. We are an approved QNUK centre.
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