Outdoor First Aid

Course - ITC Certificate in Outdoor First Aid

This qualification is accredited by the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority). It is the only Outdoor First Aid qualification that is externally regulated and meets the standards to appear upon a national qualifications framework.

The outdoor environment nearly always means that the casualty has to be looked after for a longer time scale than is typical in an urban setting.  This course is designed to meet the needs of those working away from immediate assistance in the remote and wilderness regions.

It is taught by trainers who are fully at home in the outdoors and understand the issues, dilemmas and judgments required when dealing with incidents in potentially hostile, remote environments.

Certification is dependent on successful continuous assessment of the candidate, there is no final examination. Those who successfully complete the course are awarded a certificate that is valid for three years.  The certificate entitles the candidate to be a First Aider for 3 years from date of issue. No previous first aid experience is required to attend this course.

Course Timings

09:00 -18:00 on both days. We have to have at least 16 contact hours with everyone attending this course which means that it will both start and end promptly.

Course Content

• Vital signs – breathing, level of consciousness, temperature, colour
• Incident management – a systematic approach to managing first aid incidents. ABCDE.
• Airway Management – causes and treatment of unconscious collapse. Safe Airway Positions.
• Breathing Problems - choking
• Circulation Problems – Internal bleeding, external bleeding and treatment for shock
• Damage – treatment of injury: head, spine, chest, abdomen, pelvis, leg & arm, including remote improvised techniques
• Environmental Considerations – hypothermia, hyperthermia and cold injuries. Acute mountain sickness.
• Casualty Monitoring
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Common Illnesses – asthma, diabetes and epilepsy
• Other Illnesses - Weils disease, Lyme disease etc
• Awareness of current regulations
• Safe best practice

Booking a Course

We can run in-house training at your venue for groups of up to 12 per instructor.  You simply need a room large enough to not only seat everyone but also to allow them to lie on the floor and be rolled around without bumping into furniture or each other. Ask about organising a course for your group >>

We also have a programme of public outdoor first aid courses in London and Chamonix, French Alps for individuals to attend. Dates and locations of these courses are on our course calendar.  View public first aid course dates >>

We know all of our trainers personally and our training is consistent regardless of the trainer and the course location. 
These are high quality, fun and practical courses which give all those attending the skills and confidence that they need should a first aid situation arise. We always receive excellent feedback from candidates who always find that they enjoy the day much more that they had expected.

Happy Customers

"Very good course. I would recommend it to any outdoor professional. Trainer was very good - enthusiastic, helpful etc"
Dave Cumming, British Mountain Guide

"The React First ‘Outdoor First Aid'  course provided intensive hands-on training, essential for our staff who work  in all sorts of weather conditions with machinery and tools. The training was very thorough, easy to understand and all staff thoroughly enjoyed the emergency scenarios. I highly recommend this course!"
Kirsty Wedge, Events Coordinator, Trees for Cities

"Out of all the first aid course i have been on the teaching on this one was far superior to the others - meaning that i took in more information and came away more confident"
Alison Culshaw, BASI Level 4 ISTD and AMI member

More testimonials >>

Course - Basic Expedition Leader First Aid

This course is ideal for holder of the Basic Expedition Leader Award (BELA) or perhaps you have just started working with D of E groups and feel like you need a little more first aid knowledge to give you confidence when working in this environment.

Where possible we draw on examples from situations that you may come across when working with D of E groups. This course is a great introduction to first aid in an outdoor environment.  It covers the essentials of managing immediate, potentially life threatening incidents in a systematic manner.

Certification is dependent on successful continuous assessment of the candidate, there is no final examination. Those who complete the course and are deemed to have reached the required standard are awarded a certificate that is valid for three years.  The certificate entitles the candidate to be a First Aider for 3 years from date of issue.

Course Timings

09:00 - 18:00

Course Content

• Vital signs – breathing, level of consciousness, temperature, colour
• Incident management – a systematic approach to managing first aid incidents. ABCDE.
• Airway Management – causes and treatment of unconscious collapse. Safe Airway Positions.
• Breathing Problems - choking
• Circulation Problems – Internal bleeding, external bleeding and treatment for shock
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Manging the environment: Hypothermia, hyperthermia
• Awareness of current regulations
• Safe best practice

Booking a Course

We can run in-house training at your venue for groups of up to 12 per instructor.  You simply need a room large enough to not only seat everyone but also to allow them to lie on the floor and be rolled around without bumping into furniture or each other. Ask about organising a course for your group >>

We also have a programme of public first aid courses in London for individuals to attend. Dates and locations of these courses are on our course calendar.  View public first aid course dates >>

We know all of our trainers personally and our training is consistent regardless of the trainer and the course location. These are high quality, fun and practical courses which give all those attending the skills and confidence that they need should a first aid situation arise. We always receive excellent feedback from candidates who always find that they enjoy the day much more that they had expected.

Looking for a D of E Expedition? Adventure Expeditions run an extensive programme of Open Gold D of E Expeditions across the UK and Alps along with tailor-made Bronze, Silver and Gold expeditions for schools and groups.  They also have a comprehensive range of skills courses and trips.

Happy Customers

"As a medical student at Kings College London I have attended about 3 Basic Life Support sessions as part of my course in the first year alone. However this outdoor course went much further, and dealt with difficult and advanced issues that would not be covered on a less intensive course. So thanks a lot for a brilliant course that I feel has really equipped me with the knowledge and skills to venture into the outdoors safely!"

Martin Davies, 
First Year MBBS
Kings College London

More testimonials >>

Course - Outdoor Injury and Incident Management

This course is specifically designed as an additional day for groups who already hold a First Aid at Work, emergency First Aid at Work or Basic Life Support certificate but who actually work in outdoor environments rather than an urban setting.  It covers the additional considerations and treatments that you need to know about when you are in an outdoor environment and help may take a more than an hour to get to you.

Course Timings

Ideally the session will run from 09:00-18:00 but we can accommodate whatever works best for your group.

Course Content

The content of this course is tailored for the group depending on which certificate they already hold. Typically it will include some or all of the following:

• Treatment of hypothermia and hyperthemia
• Insulating and sheltering casualties
• Casualty monitoring
• Environmental Concerns
• Decision making in the outdoors & how to manage casualties when help is more than 1 hour away
• Secondary surveys / damage checks
• Drowning and Immersion
• Ticks, Lyme Disease, Weils disease

Booking a Course

We can run in-house training at your venue for groups of up to 12 per instructor.  You simply need a room large enough to not only seat everyone but also to allow them to lie on the floor and be rolled around without bumping into furniture or each other. Ask about organising a course for your group >>

Happy Customers

"I did the recent 1-day session in Berkshire that Jenny ran, so after all my organising of other people's training I finally did my own and it was great too."
Cathie Hasler, Community Wildlife Officer, Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust

More testimonials >>

Course - Forest Schools First Aid

This is an ITC Paediatric (Outdoor) First Aid course which covers all of the standard EYFS paediatric first aid requirements for Ofsted and also has an additional 4 hours of teaching to extend the content to deal with an outdoor environment. Please note: No adult treatments are covered on this course.

The course is designed to meet the needs of Forest School workers who work with children and infants outside of the classroom environment.

Certification is dependent on successful continuous assessment of the candidate, there is no final examination. Those who complete the course and are deemed to have reached the required standard are awarded a certificate that is valid for three years.  The certificate entitles the candidate to be a First Aider for 3 years from date of issue.

No previous first aid experience is required to attend this course.

Course Timings

09:00-18:00 on both days

Course Content

• A systematic approach to incident management
• Infant, Child Resuscitation procedures
• Choking
• Bleeding - internal/external, major/minor
• Shock - hypovolemic and anaphylactic
• Hypothermia and hyperthermia
• Febrile convulsions
• Treating Damage - suspected fractures, head, neck and back injuries
• Eye injuries and foreign bodies in eyes, ears and noses
• Bites and stings
• Poisoning
• Burns and scalds
• Electric shock
• Common illness - epilepsy, asthma, sickle cell anaemia, diabetes

Booking a Course

We can run in-house training at your venue for groups of up to 12 per instructor.  You simply need a room large enough to not only seat everyone but also to allow them to lie on the floor and be rolled around without bumping into furniture or each other. Ask about organising a course for your group >>