First Aid Policy

INTRODUCTION

First aid is the emergency care of injured or sick persons. It aims to:

• Preserve life
• Promote recovery
• Prevent the injury or illness becoming worse.

St Augustine's School is required by the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 1995 to have first aid equipment or facilities readily available for use. St Augustine's School has a moral obligation to provide effective emergency management to injured or ill employees, students and others, such as volunteers. In the school setting, first aid is not necessarily restricted to one-off treatments following and accident or injury. It may also include follow-up care of minor matters which do not normally require medical care (eg. scratches, cuts, burns and splinters).

DEFINITIONS

First aid means the provision of first aid facilities, services and personnel required for the initial treatment of persons suffering injury or illness at a workplace.

First aid facilities means first aid kits, first aid room or area and first aid equipment.

First aid personnel means:

All members of the St Augustine's School staff. All staff are required to hold a current Senior First Aid qualification. A first aid personnel register containing the names of all first aid personnel, the title of their first aid qualification and the date of expiry of the qualification is kept at the school.

REGULATIONS

At St Augustine's School we acknowledge the following regulations as they pertain to First Aid and update and act on them as necessary.

• Regular assessment of First Aid requirements and personnel;
• Access to first aid facilities for visitors and all employees;
• Maintenance of first aid kits including kits for sporting and educational excursions and events;
• The requirements regarding incident recording and investigation are maintained and adhered to;
• Maintain, update and display prominently in the school the students medical registers;
• Invite consultants from the various health fields (eg Diabetes Health Advisor) to provide current inservicing for all staff on treatments specific to their area of expertise;

PROCEDURES and Responsibilities of first aid personnel

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• Injured or sick children report to Sick Bay (if possible). Where serious accidents have occurred, the teacher on duty should remain with the child and have a message sent directly to the front office.
• The first aid personnel on duty undertake the initial management of sick or injured persons to a level consistent with their training and competence.
• When the first aid requirements are beyond the level of training of the school personnel, the Principal is notified and the parents are contacted, or medical assistance sought.
• The sick or injured child must be supervised at all times until first aid is no longer required, or the Injured/ sick person is taken into the care of parents/ legal guardians or medical personnel.
• At all times during treatment, infection control procedures need to be adhered to eg gloves to be worn, isolate children if required.
• All first aid treatment must be recorded as per Workplace Health and Safety and Catholic Church Insurances guidelines
• Report any hazard or dangerous incident to the school Workplace Health and Safety Committee
• First Aid personnel must respect the confidential nature of any information provided during the course of treatment.

FIRST AID FACILITIES

Number of first aid kits required

The school has six first aid kits on the premises, one is always kept in the first aid area. The other five are portable first aid kits, which are kept for excursions.

Contents of first aid kits

The contents of first aid kits should be appropriate for the types of injuries likely to occur in the school or non-school workplace. The suggested contents for the first aid kit at a school and non-school workplace are listed in Appendix 2.

Suggested additional contents of a first aid kit for remote excursion destinations are listed in Appendix 3.

A nominated School Officer ensures that:

• contents are kept within the "use-by" dates;
• contents are replenished promptly;
• student medication is kept in a secure place and not in the first aid kit; and
• the contents of first aid kits are used only for administering first aid.

A list of contact telephone numbers for the nearest ambulance service, the Poisons Information Centre, local medical practitioner and nearest hospital are kept with the first aid kit.

A checklist to assess the appropriateness of our first aid kits is found in Appendix 4.

First aid room or area

The school has a designated area for a sick bay, and for a first aid room. It is clearly identified as a first aid room and is not to be used for any other purpose.

Contents and equipment in first aid room or area

Suggested contents for first aid rooms and areas are listed in Appendix 5.

Providing first aid information to staff and students

At the commencement of each school year, the Principal will instruct all employees, volunteers and students in the procedures to be followed when first aid is required.

At other appropriate times during the year, information pertaining to first aid will be distributed through other avenues of communication including lessons, newsletters, notice boards and school handbooks.

Disposing of first aid waste

The principal arranges for the daily safe disposal of waste from the sick bay and first aid room.

Gloves must be worn when handling waste that has been contaminated with body substances (eg. bandages, bloodstained items). All waste that has been contaminated with body substances should be considered a potential source of infection. Contaminated waste should be placed in a plastic bag that is clearly identified as BIO-HAZARD and disposed of in the general waste.

FIRST AID CONSENT FOR EXCURSIONS AND CAMPS

Each year parents are asked to complete and sign consent forms that contain the following statement: "In the event of illness or injury to my child and I can not be contacted, I agree that the school may proceed to obtain adequate medical treatment for my child, and that all expenses for such shall be my responsibility."

APPENDIX 2

Suggested Contents of a School First Aid Kit

Preference is for all items to be disposable where possible.

The bracketed numbers are for guidance only and do not represent minimum requirements. The actual quantity of particular items and contents of the kit should be determined by the assessment described in Section 3.1.

Appendix 3

Suggested Additional Contents of a First Aid Kit for Excursions to a Remote Location

Appendix 4

Checklist for First Aid Kits

The purpose of this checklist is to check the appropriateness of first aid kits. Indicate by circling either "Yes/No". Where the answer to the questions is "No", further action may be necessary to address the deficiency.

APPENDIX 5

Suggested Contents of a First Aid Room or Area