This guideline page brings together key first aid guidance and resources for adult social care providers. It is intended to support providers to review their workplace first aid arrangements, ensure staff follow recognised first aid procedures, and access current guidance from national organisations.
Providers remain responsible for ensuring that first aid arrangements are adequate and appropriate for their service, workforce, premises and the people they support. This includes considering risks identified through workplace assessments, staffing patterns, lone working, shift cover, equipment checks and access to emergency support.
First aid needs assessment
The Health and Safety Executive advises employers to assess what first aid provision is needed for their workplace. In adult social care settings, providers should consider the type of service delivered, known hazards, the size and needs of the workforce, shift patterns, staff absences, previous accident history, lone working and how quickly emergency medical support can be accessed.
There is no single mandatory number of first aiders that applies to every service. Providers should be able to explain how their first aid arrangements have been decided and how they remain effective across normal operating hours, leave, sickness and other staffing pressures.
HSE First Aid Needs Assessment Guidance
Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Safety Alerts and Recalls
First aid box contents and equipment
First aid box contents should be based on the provider’s first aid needs assessment. Providers should ensure first aid equipment is suitable for the service, accessible when needed, checked regularly, replenished after use, and reviewed when risks or service arrangements change.
Where care providers hold medicines, dressings, equipment or medical devices, they should also ensure there is a process for reviewing relevant safety alerts, product recalls and field safety notices.
HSE First Aid at Work equipment guidance
Choking guidance and anti-choking devices
Several suction-based airway clearance devices, sometimes referred to as anti-choking devices, are available in the UK. Resuscitation Council UK currently makes no recommendation for or against their use while further evidence is awaited. Providers should prioritise established choking treatments that can be delivered immediately and do not require specialist equipment.
Recognised choking management includes encouraging the person to cough, giving back blows where coughing is ineffective, using abdominal thrusts for adults and children, using chest thrusts for infants, and starting CPR without delay if the person becomes unconscious. Blind finger sweeps should not be performed. An obstruction should only be removed from the mouth if it is clearly visible.
Resuscitation Council UK Position Statement
Resuscitation Council UK Choking Guidance
Training and staff competence
Providers should ensure staff who are expected to respond to first aid incidents have appropriate training, understand local procedures, and know how to access equipment and emergency support. Training arrangements should reflect the provider’s first aid needs assessment and should be reviewed when staffing, service needs, premises or risk levels change.
HCPA education and support
HCPA offers a range of First Aid qualifications to support adult social care providers with workforce competence and safe practice. Providers should select training based on their service needs, first aid needs assessment and staff responsibilities.
View and book upcoming First Aid training First Aid education and qualifications
Review and assurance
Guidance and best practice may change over time. Providers should ensure they refer to the latest published guidance from national organisations and keep local policies, risk assessments, staff training records and first aid arrangements under review.