By Andrew Hill, National Director of Training (andrew.hill@skipatrol.ca)
Change Notice 1 to the CSP Advanced First Aid (AFA) Manual, 2019 edition, has been posted on the NDS. These changes have been approved by the medical advisory committee and will be incorporated into the next release of the CSP AFA Manual. For 2020 it is provided as an addendum.
The changes contained in Change Notice 1 are required to bring the CSP AFA manual, and associated training modules, into compliance with the requirements of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standard Z1210-17 ‘First aid training for the workplace – Curriculum and quality management for training agencies’ and additional Alberta Plus requirements for AFA training.
The CSP is an approved training agency in Alberta and is accredited by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) to provide advanced first aid training for the workplace in Alberta, based on the CSP AFA manual and associated training and instructor certification programs. Don’t forget that ski resorts are workplaces, even if we provide our skills on a voluntary basis.
After the 2019 manual was released, Alberta OHS advised Mountain Division that the standard for workplace first aid training had been changed to the CSA Z1210-17 standard, with some additional requirements defined by ‘Alberta Plus.’ Approved training agencies were required to update their programs by mid-January 2020.
In addition to Alberta, the CSA standard has been mandated by the Manitoba and Yukon governments as the standard to be applied to all AFA courses provided in that province and territory, including those taught by the CSP; other provinces are expected to follow.
The following is a summary of the changes:
Chapter 1 Introduction to first aid – adds new sections to cover:
- Occupational health and safety – know your provincial/territorial OHS requirements.
- Hazards and hazard management – from a first aider’s perspective.
- Administration of medications – this provides pointers to other sections in the AFA manual where medications are described.
- First aid kits – this updates the first aid kit content list to conform to national standards and is intended to replace the first aid kit content requirements from the Administration Manual and the Operations Manual and remove duplication.
Chapter 3 Infectious diseases and universal precautions – adds a statement on the disposal of sharp objects.
Chapter 4 Patient Assessment – adds a new section on barriers to effective communication (for example, foreign language, pediatric patient, intellectual disability) and how this can affect a patient assessment.
Chapter 5 Basic Life Support – adds a new section on drowning.
Chapter 12 Wounds – adds a new section on treatment for contusions.
Chapter 16 Medical conditions – adds new sections to cover arteriosclerosis and heart failure.
Chapter 17 Environmental injuries – adds a statement about sending a copy of the safety data sheet with the patient in the event of a chemical exposure injury.
Chapter 19 Miscellaneous treatments – updates and adds new sections to cover:
- Solar keratitis and flash burns to the eyes – updates the current solar keratitis section to also cover flash burns.
- Mental health emergencies – recognition and management from a first aider point of view.
- Decompression illness – recognition and treatment.
Chapter 21 Transporting patients – adds new sections to cover the one-person cradle carry and out of area transportation to medical aid.
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