First Aid for Martial Arts
If you are a Martial Arts coach, or you run a Martial Arts Club then you will need First Aid Training. All venues need to be prepared should someone fall ill, or injure themselves at the establishment, whether Gym, Ring or Dojo, even if you are hiring a Hall, or renting a patch of grass for the teaching.
Your venue has a duty of care over anyone that visits, from staff to learners and other visitors.
As your venue has employees then you must also comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations. For instance you may need to:
- Provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment and facilities
- Provide a suitable number of qualified first aiders
- Appoint a person to take charge where first aiders are temporarily absent or the provision of first aiders is not necessary (due to the nature of the activities; the number of employees; and location)
- Inform employees and volunteers of the first aid provisions made – including the location of any equipment or facilities and the identity of the first aider(s) or appointed person(s).
Generally speaking, to determine what is required the Martial Arts Business must carry out a Risk Assessment and draw up an appropriate plan to provide this cover. There is some useful information on the Health and Safety Executive website:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid
Which Martial Arts First Aid course to choose?
Use the following guide to see which Martial Arts First Aid course is suitable for your Business.
Click the course title to find out more information about the course.
Click here to ask for a quotation for your Martial Arts Business.
The main courses that you can choose for a typical Martial Arts Dojo are:
Basic Life Support, which is often the minimum requirement for Organisations. It covers Life-saving techniques such as CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), use of a defibrillator, Recovery Position and dealing with a choking casualty.
Basic Live Support plus Martial Arts. 4 Minutes Training has created this 4-hour course. It covers the core Basic Life Support syllabus then adds an hour of typical Martial Arts injuries –
- Bleeds
- Soft tissue injuries (strains & sprains) and fractures
- Head injuries
This course is the most popular course Booked with 4 Minutes Training by Martial Arts Groups.
Emergency First Aid at Work, which covers the Workplace requirements, but doesn’t deal with looking after children & babies (shouldn’t be a problem as they should be there with an adult), nor does it cover medical events such as strokes (it does cover heart attacks).
First Aid at Work, which builds on Emergency First Aid at Work to include medical emergencies, bone and muscle injuries amongst other problems. More suited to larger Martial Arts sites, or higher risk venues such as a Festival.
Also worth considering…
Emergency Paediatric First Aid which deals with children and infants. Infant First Aid requirements are not usually needed for a Martial Arts Group as, if there are any present, they will be supervised by parents. This course does not cover workplace requirements. If you do consider this useful then 4 Minutes Training can combine this course with one of the above to save your staff having to take two courses.
Mental Health First Aid. Competing in Martial Arts competitions can cause Mental Health issues to arise from time to time. By providing Mental Health First Aiders, support can be available when required.
Contact us if you would like more information or a Quotation for Training.
In general, most individual Martial Arts Groups or coaches can probably be covered by taking Basic Life Support with Martial Arts or the 1-day Emergency First Aid at Work course. Larger venues or higher risk venues may wish to consider the more comprehensive 3-day First Aid at work course.
When considering how many staff need training you must allow for staff leave and sickness – as well as the First Aider falling sick or injuring themselves. Also consider the size of the venue, whether it is spread out across multiple Dojos.
Online Training – First Aid, Fire and Food safety, Staff Management and Customer Service and more available.
Don’t forget our wide range of online courses for Martial Arts, too!