First Aid Instructor - Alex Lithgow

Introduce yourself and how you'd describe your job.

Hello all.  Alex here, I’m a certified first aid instructor from Scotland. I’ve worked full time with a number of outdoor education companies here in HK and China for over 10 years and in the last few years, I decided to develop myself by becoming a first aid instructor as well. I deliver a range of first aid courses on behalf of an organisation providing internationally recognised first aid certifications, including austere and wilderness first aid, CPR & AED courses.

 Explain your line of work for someone who might not know much about it.

The aim of my work is to educate the participants on correct and practical first aid measures, so that they are able to identify someone who needs help and feel confident to provide assistance to an appropriate level.

I teach basic life saving including trauma care, CPR [Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation] & AED [Automated External Defibrillator], environmental medicine, role play scenarios based in the outdoor environment, and high level casualty simulations.

The courses can range from half day or 1 day workshops, to multi-day advanced wilderness medical courses.

 Who do you normally work with? 

The majority of the participants on the first aid courses are adults  coming from a range of backgrounds.  I also give young people an introduction to first aid when they join our adventure education programs.

There is such a range to teaching first aid, you’re never too young or old to begin learning.

Working in outdoor education, there is a captive market of new educators arriving in HK and existing ones looking to review and up-skill their knowledge in first aid. Many approach me to join a course individually or through their company. 

First aid isn’t just for those who work in outdoor education. I’ve had dance teachers, paddle coaches, home help and parents join courses to boost their knowledge and confidence.

Why do outdoor education companies require their staff to have wilderness first aid?

Having a certificate of first aid training has become a “best practice norm” across the industry. A number of school clients mandate all external provider staff to possess a first aid training qualification. Many outdoor learning providers have strict policies hiring policies that state they cannot hire a field instructor without a first aid certification.

Instructors work with participants on adventurous activities sometimes in some remote locations. As the first person at an incident, they have a responsibility and duty of care to provide support to all participants. Having a wilderness first aid means outdoor provider staff can take charge of a situation and provide clear medical or psychological help to those who need.

Describe a normal work week for yourself

My primary work is coordinating outdoor learning school camp programmes for about 50-120 students and leading a team of instructors through the itinerary.  When there is enough demand though, then I deliver the first aid courses.  This helps keep my work consistent through the year as there are busy and quiet seasons in the school camp work.

In the weeks that I’m teaching first aid courses, the days can be long {e.g.8am-6pm of instructing outdoors) and I am often using my own days off and weekends between school camp programmes. 

Preparing a course also takes a long time. It is a lengthy process of administration and registering the participants in the lead up to the start date. There’s lots of back-and-forth communication between participants and myself to get everyone ready to start. Typical courses are 1 or 2 days of informative but intense and physical learning. It’s a lot of fun getting to know the participants and see them apply their recently learned knowledge through group work and group discussions.

 What do you love about your work?

I really love sharing knowledge and knowing that people I teach can take that first aid knowledge and share it with others. The skills I teach can be valuable and possibly life saving in the future. I really enjoy the sharing of ideas and experiences that come from group discussions. There is so much to share when it comes to first aid and more medical knowledge is being discovered every day, it’s an exciting and ever-changing topic. This keeps me on my toes as every so often the training material gets updated and new medical knowledge or procedures becomes available to teach.

 What are some of the negative aspects of your work?

It can be quite difficult to gather enough participants to join a course, as there is a minimum number needed to make the course financially viable and the group activity work. A number of courses do not go ahead due to low numbers which can be frustrating. Simple courses fill up faster but the longer, advanced or First Responder courses require a higher level of commitment and financial investment from the participant.

There are also so many providers and types/ levels of first aid to choose from in the market. It can become quite saturated with providers and hard to build a reputation.

 What training or experience do you need to get into this type of work?

I had been taking first aid courses in some form or another for over 20 years before becoming an instructor. After renewing my First Responder for a 3rd time I approached Austere International to become an assistant instructor. I helped assist and co-lead a number of courses under the regional director - observing and shadowing him working. 

There are also instructor training programmes that you can attend where they take you through the curriculum and provide support on your journey to become a provider under the umbrella of the awarding body. A keen interest and confident facilitation skills goes a long way here. There is lots to learn, but with repeated practice and delivery it becomes second nature.

What advice do you have for people looking to start a career on this line of work?

Make sure you are confident speaking in front of others and understand it's an investment of time and finance. Build up your skills in group speaking, presentation delivery and giving physical examples of the skills. Start slowly with the basic courses, then use the income to build your equipment and teaching aides to deliver the advanced courses.

Understand it can take a long time to work up to teaching the advanced courses. Think of it as an investment for future, life-long developmental skills.