Rank: New forum user 
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I am trying to get my head round a legality issue regarding first aid provision. We have a number of doctors and nurses who visit groups of patients for exercise classes and discussion meetings. If the venue they visit does not provide a first aider say a small village hall, can the doctor or nurse provide the cover due to their professional qualification.
Currently the regulations state that practising registered medical practitioners registered with the General Medical Council and practising registered nurses entered on part 1, 2 or 7 of the single
professional register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) may be regarded as an Appointed Person for the HSE Approved Code of Practice.
Is this provision appropriate only in healthcare premises, can this be applied elsewhere?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Firstly there is no legal obligation to provide first aiders other than at work, the title of the First Aid at Work Regulations gives a clue. If however, a doctor (medical that is) is available you don't need a first aider as proffesional assistance is obviously available, a nurse can give the same level of assistance a first aider could so agian a first aider is not required. The clue is in the title FIRST aider, some one who provides aid in the first instance. Please remeber that the term at work is all important in this context.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Remember that just because a person is a doctor &/or nurse does not automatically mean that they are competent to give first aid - so make sure that they are competent
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Rank: Super forum user
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I can imagine the position where someone has had an accident and along comes a doctor, nurse or ambulance driver and a first aider says leave well alone as I don't know if you are competent to deal with this incident. A doctor goes to medical school for at least four or five years, a nurse has to trainfor at least three or four years and take a university degree in nursing and ambulance drivers particularly medics also have to train for quite a long time before they become what they are, now compare that with the training a first aider gets and guess what there is no comparison so which do you choose to deal with an accident????? I would go for the professionally tyrained person if it was me who had been injured, it would be a cheek to imply that a first aider is better qualified than a doctor nurse or ambulance driver.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Actually Bob (Shillabeer), I agree with Bob (Youel), Don't automatically assume that nurses, or doctors for that matter are either 'competent' or 'current' to deliver effective first aid, many of them who are post training will not touch first aid for years. In an emergenct scenario a nurse or doctor I believe be a welcome sight, but in testing compliance with legislation, that is another matter....
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Rank: Super forum user
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P.S. I just happen to be married to one....
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Rank: Forum user
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I have to agree that a Nurse/Doctor are not necessarily competent to give first aid that will depend on there speciality ie a Gynaecology/ midwife proberby not. But a paramedic would be much more qualified/experience than a first aider when dealing with a serious accident, but you (as a first aider) would not dial 999 for a simple strain in the workplace.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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There was a thread on this subject some time ago and at that time I suggested that first aiders could be better placed to deliver first aid than some nurses and doctors. This was received with derision from several subsequent posters who could not understand that a psychiatrist or geriatric nurse would not necessarily be up to daye in life saving first aid.
Delighted to see some sense posted above.
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Rank: Forum user
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I totally agree with stuff4blokes. I was recently involved with a serious cycling accident and our group was made up of those who had done "first aid at work" training, "wilderness first responder training" and a GP. The GP was, by his own admission useless as it was a long time since he had come across a major trauma.
The other very notable difference was those who had done the wilderness course were significantly more effective than the first aiders at work. It's going off topic a little but the first aid at work course has been "dumbed down" so much since I first did it 20 years ago that I almost wonder if it's worth doing at all...
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Rank: Super forum user 
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My recollection is that the HSE guidance does refer to this issue. May be worth a look
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