Don Marentette wants to see all adult
Canadians trained in first aid.
“Canada is known for its safe workplac-es
globally, but we have an opportunity
as a country to do better,” he said. “We
can’t see a reason why everyone in the
workplace can’t have some experience or
training with first aid.”
The Canadian Red Cross is stepping up
its efforts to advocate for every employee
in every workplace across the country to
be trained in basic first aid and CPR.
It won’t be easy. Challenges like cost
and access to high-quality training is a
factor, as are regulations that vary by prov-ince,
industry and workplace. However,
Marentette says the cost of not providing
first aid training could prove fatal.
“We know that one of the biggest bar-riers
to act is people are afraid to do the
wrong thing or hurt someone,” he said.
“We’ve done studies with the University
of Manchester in the UK and Canada ob-serving
people’s behaviours in the first aid
classroom.
“Participants are 28 per cent more
likely to act in an emergency situation
after having first aid training that is re-latable
to them. Three months later, they
were 12 per cent more willing to act in an
health & safety
Max Gribodev/Shutterstock.com
“CANADA IS KNOWN FOR ITS SAFE WORKPLACES GLOBALLY, BUT WE HAVE AN
OPPORTUNITY AS A COUNTRY TO DO BETTER. WE CAN’T SEE A REASON WHY EVERYONE
IN THE WORKPLACE CAN’T HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE OR TRAINING WITH FIRST AID.”
– DON MARENTETTE, CANADIAN RED CROSS
32 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
