A childs normal temperature is about 36.4°C (97.4°F). Under the tongue, the normal temperature is slightly higher at about 37°C (98.4°F). This may vary a bit.

If you’re worried speak to your GP or call NHS Direct. If the surgery is closed, contact your GP out-of-hours service. If you’re still concerned, or if your GP or out-of-hours service can’t come quickly enough, take your child straight to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of your nearest hospital.

Always contact your GP, health visitor, practice nurse or nurse practitioner if:
~ your child has other signs of illness as well as a raised temperature
~ Your baby’s temperature is 38°C (101°F) or higher (if they’re under three months), or
~ your baby’s temperature is 39°C (102°F) or higher (if they’re three to six months)

If the doctor doesn’t find a reason for the temperature they may ask you to collect a urine sample in a sterile container so they can test for infection.

How to Treat a Fever

It’s important to keep your child hydrated. Even if your child isn’t thirsty try to get them to drink little and often to keep their fluid levels up.
Don’t give them food unless they want it.
Treat discomfort and fever with paracetamol or ibuprofen (always follow the dosage instructions carefully).

The following suggestions may help your child feel more comfortable:
Give your child plenty of cool clear fluids.
Undress them to their nappy or vest and pants.
Cover them with a sheet if necessary.
Keep the room well aired and at a comfortable temperature (about 18°C (65°F)) by adjusting the heating or opening a window.

If your child is distressed and uncomfortable, try giving them paracetamol or ibuprofen with guidance from your pharmacist. You can’t give them both at the same time, but if one doesn’t work you may want to try the other later. Always check the instructions on the bottle or packet to find out the correct dose and frequency for your child’s age.

Action Training Services popular paediatric first aid course gives candidates the knowledge and ability to deal with emergency first aid situations, particularly when dealing with children. It is an ideal course for parents and those who come into contact with children and those attending will gain the confidence and a range of skills so that you know what to do in a first aid or emergency situation involving a child in Wigan, Warrington, Halton and Skelmersdale.

The Lofstedt Report
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/lofstedt-report.pdf

The Governments Acceptance of the Lofstedt Report
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/lofstedt-report-response.pdf

HSE Training Standards for Awarding Bodies
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web46.pdf

HSE First Aid Updates Page
http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/whats-new/index.htm

For the past 30 years, having HSE approval has allowed independent first aid training providers to illustrate to customers and potential clients that they delivered high quality training to a recognised standard. Without doubt, this has allowed smaller, private training providers to compete with big name brands such as St. John, British Red Cross and St. Andrew’s Ambulance.

Having recognised the importance of HSE approval, we have actively campaigned to protect training providers for many years. However, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that it was no longer a case of if HSE approval would be removed but when.

Deregulation could potentially open the door for large numbers of low quality first aid training providers to enter the market. Unfortunately, any confusion about standards in the independent sector will hand an advantage to organisations such as St. John and Red Cross, whose brand names are generally trusted by employers. It’s important therefore that genuine, quality training providers, who are about to lose HSE approval, can replace this with something equally as credible if not better.

When is removal of HSE approval likely to happen?

The HSE have key implementation dates of either April or October. Government ministers are keen to show that they are removing red-tape from the Health and Safety arena and want to see the changes sooner rather than later. Although no date has been confirmed as yet, this could ultimately mean that HSE approval is removed as soon as October 2012 and we think it is unlikely to happen any later than April 2013.

Whilst the decision to end HSE approval has already been made by the Government, a consultation process is being undertaken to look at how this is implemented. Also being looked at is the guidance provided to employers regarding first aid provision. Early indications from HSE are that the employer’s guidance will be very supportive of Ofqual Awarding Organisation accreditation for first aid.

We at Action Training Services Have considered the possible ways that we could support our customers, the most beneficial way forward for independent training providers would be a move to Ofqual regulated qualifications. We know that employers and the HSE already have a high level of confidence in Ofqual regulated qualifications, so this option will allow independent training providers to compete effectively with the big name brands.

Registering with an Ofqual Awarding Organisation means that the qualifications you provide are accredited using a Government approved and nationally recognised system.

Importantly, this system is not complicated or expensive. Currently over 2,200 training providers are delivering Emergency First Aid at Work in this way and many of the 1,235 HSE approved training providers already deliver other qualifications using this method just like ourselves.

Please makesure now; all your trainer’s records are up to date (including FAW certificates, teaching qualifications, training logs, etc.). These are all things that are already required under HSE approval and will help you to seamlessly transfer over to one of the many Awarding Organisations.

Which of the above would you like at work if you had a Cardiac Arrest!

Which of the above really saves life!

All three!

Would you know what to do!

Let’s increase your ability to save life in Wigan and Warrington.

Tributes have poured in from staff and fellow pupils following the incident. Andy White, head teacher at Woodlands Comprehensive School in Basildon where Leonie was a student, described her as a “promising, delightful and kind girl”.

The incident occurred during a routine PE lesson in which pupils were passing and catching a rugby ball. Leonie was hit in the chest, appeared to faint and then went into a fit. First aiders attended to her and performed CPR before the ambulance arrived and took her to Basildon Hospital. Despite the best effort of the ambulance crew, Leonie was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Gary Sanderson of the East of England Ambulance Service said that: “The ambulance crew arrived at the scene within one minute and found the girl in a critical condition. Following rapid treatment and stabilisation, she was taken to an awaiting medical team at Basildon Hospital where sadly she died shortly after.”

The incident is consistent with a phenomenon known as commotio cordis which is a disruption of heart rhythm caused by an impact against the chest area directly above the heart (precordial region). It is often described as a ‘freak’ accident as the blow must take place during a specific time during the cycle of a heart beat to disrupt the rhythm and cause cardiac arrest (also known as ventricular fibrillation). Commotio cordis has a fatality rate of around 65%, largely because it is unpredictable and not linked to any pre-existing condition, but it can be treated by early defibrillation. It occurs most commonly in young, active males as the thorax has often not developed as thoroughly.

Unfortunately, incidents such as this are more common than many people are aware of; young people are dying every week from sudden cardiac arrest in the UK.

The financial penalty imposed by the court will ordinarily be £500,000 or greater, as set out in the new sentencing guidelines. Fines of this magnitude could have a devastating impact on small and medium-sized businesses that have modest turnover and profit figures. In the case of very large businesses, it is expected that the fines issued could be much higher than this guideline minimum and may reach into millions of pounds.

However, financial penalties are only part of the story. Courts may also issue remedial orders, requiring businesses to address any specific health and safety failures it hasn’t already dealt with. But the final sting in the tail is potentially the most damaging element of a corporate manslaughter sentence: the publicity order. A business served with such an order is required to make a public announcement giving details of the offence committed and the financial penalty imposed. The court will dictate how this announcement must be made but it is expected that national and local press announcements and a message on the business’s own website will be usual practice. The reputational damage caused by a publicity order could end up costing businesses (especially large household names) far more, and take much longer to recover from than any financial penalty the court can issue. The potential costs of complying with a remedial order and publicity order will not be taken into account by the court in setting the fine and will be a further drain on businesses that may already be facing unprecedented financial pressure.

Work Foundation commission is to look at quality of work and the encouragement of good practice to boost productivity.

Health and safety issues continue to divide the political parties

In light of these radical changes to the way in which corporate killing offences will be dealt with by the courts, now may be the time to reconsider how health and safety issues are managed in your organisation and to ask who is the most appropriate person to shoulder this responsibility.

Traditionally, many organisations have considered health and safety as an HR issue and it is a subject that has been added to the ever-increasing ‘to do’ list of the HR manager. In an ideal world every business would benefit from employing a dedicated health and safety manager, but for many organisations this is simply not financially viable and for lower-risk service-sector organisations is not strictly necessary.

There is no right or wrong answer in the debate over where health and safety management should sit within any organisation. However, it is an issue that should be properly thought out, based on the risks posed to staff and the resources and expertise needed to address these. Clearly, the role of a health and safety manager in a call centre will be somewhat different from the role in a heavy manufacturing plant or road haulage firm.

Whoever is charged with overseeing health and safety issues, they must seek appropriate professional advice. All board members must actively promote a safety culture within the organisation and forget any notions of ‘it’s not my job’. The overriding message for directors is that health and safety should be a key component of the business risk management strategy and all directors and managers (regardless of their title) should recognise that safety must be tackled with the same level of commitment as managing financial and reputational risk.

The new sentencing guidelines underscore the importance placed by the regulators on ensuring the safety and welfare of staff while at work. There is a clear intention to deliver a step change in the level of fines and range of penalties imposed on convicted organisations.

Businesses must see this as a wake-up call and ensure the resources allocated to health and safety remain sufficient, even in hard times.

For HR professionals overseeing health and safety compliance, it is now more important than ever that they are on top of these issues.