Seanad debates

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Commencement Matters

Occupational First Aid

10:30 am

Photo of Gerard CraughwellGerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, to the House. This is the first time I have had the pleasure of welcoming her to this House. I hope she is settling into her new portfolio.

The issue that I am raising is quite literally a matter of life and death. I was recently made aware by Councillor Melissa O’Neill from Kilkenny of the first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, campaign which already has 7,000 signatures. The campaign has been adopted by the health forum in ten local authorities and has the support of many Members of the Oireachtas. It was started by a Kilkenny mother whose daughter, Isabelle, has apnoea and can stop breathing at any time. She attends primary school and her mother wants all physically able teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, to be trained to respond, not just to her condition but to the thousands of children and young adults who may require lifesaving first aid in schools.

As a former principal, the Minister of State will know what I am talking about. Some schools have trained first responders but this is ad hocand is not compulsory for every school. I am asking that the Minister of State make it compulsory for every school to have teachers and SNAs fully trained in first aid and to provide the necessary funding. Otherwise this will not happen.

In making my case, I am already anticipating the Minister of State's response. She may say that it is the responsibility of boards of management and not the Department under the provisions of the Education Act 1998 to be responsible for the care and safety of all students in schools. Of course this is the case and I am not disputing this. However, without compulsory first aid training and without the funding to provide it, there will be no standardised practice in schools. The Minister of State will have to take the lead on this. Otherwise we will just go around in circles like we have done with the weight of school bags, with the whole thing falling between stools of responsibility and being left up to the school or the board of management and no standardised practice across schools. In terms of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Applications) Regulations 2007 which set out the first aid requirements for workplaces, can the Minister of State explain how these apply to pupils who are not employees and, as such, fall into a completely different category?

Schools do a fantastic job in working in conjunction with parents, teachers and children to put preventive measures in place and to lessen the possibility of any difficulties arising if a student suffers from an illness. SNAs who work with children who have medical conditions do outstanding work. However, what I am asking for is not just for children with special conditions, it is for a high level of preparedness should any incident occur. The degree of care and supervision which must be exercised by those in charge of schools has been described in a number of legal cases as, “a duty to exercise the care which a careful parent would exercise for the protection of his or her own children". In the case of children who have pre-identified medical conditions or a choking incident, thein loco parentisrule still applies. However, without the necessary training it may be impossible for teachers or SNAs to respond properly, particularly in cases where time is of the essence.

I am well aware that the Department cannot direct any member of the board of management or the teaching staff of the school to administer medical treatment which is normally carried out by medical professionals such as doctors and nurses. What we are asking for, however, is training in treatment that can be carried out by someone who is not a medical professional but who has the training and the necessary skills. They do not have to be a nurse or doctor to do this, so that is a moot point. Among teachers and SNAs there is a great willingness to undertake this training and I have been reliably told that in addition to the Red Cross, there are plenty of reputable first aid trainers out there to do the work. The Red Cross is in the schools already working with the children. The training of teachers and SNAs would be the logical next step as the Red Cross is already providing paediatric first aid training to child care workers around Ireland.

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