Posted By Sean Fraser
Shane,

To answer this question in my usual oblique way, I would highly recommend reading the HSE consultation document on changes to the 1981 First Aid regs - in fact, there is still time to put in your comments as it runs up to 30th November :

http://www.hse.gov.uk/consult/disdocs/dde21.pdf

Go to the HSE Website and go to the Health and Safety Topic - First Aid at Work. There is a lot of useful commentary and advice there.

Firstly, there are no legal minimums for what is carried in any First Aid kit. Instead, it should be tailored to the hazards and risks as assessed by you. So, for a car, you need to consider the nature of potential injuries and what contents would help, then pack it accordingly. There are a number of travel FA kits available on the market, so pick one that most meets your identified requirements OR create your own.

As for training, again that comes down to what you assess as the hazards and risks involved. If, for example, your people are on the road every day then the chances of being involved in an accident are higher than occasional use. The nature of the accident when it actually happens might not be that different however. Perhaps the important matter is less training for an accident but training NOT to have an accident, so training should be focused on improving driving skills first rather than on first aid. Accident prevention is better than dealing with an aftermath. Instead of training, a general awareness of potential injuries and how to deal with them could probably be dealt with by a handout to drivers or mentioned in routine meetings / communications - if they've had driving hazard awareness training then they will better placed to appreciate the information being provided. Also, most importantly, they need to be able to summon assistance and to stay safe until help arrives, so don't forget to emphasise this as well.

In first aid, only minor injuries can be self administered. In a car accident, the chances of serious injury mean that first aid provision to the driver would be meaningless if they are the ones involved - and careful consideration needs to be given in workers assisting at the scene of an accident. Emphasise the chain of survival - assess the situation, call for medical assistance, tend the casualty and check ABC until help arrives.