HIV/AIDS and First Aid Training for the Workplace

Human immunodeficiency virus / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is prevalent in South Africa's working-age group. An estimated 18.7% of adults between 15-49 years old are HIV positive which makes HIV/AIDS awareness a top concern for the workplace. Emcare offers an HIV/AIDS awareness course that will benefit employees with first aid training and the functioning of the workplace.

Emcare:

Emcare is a South African health and safety training company. We offer courses in health and safety, healthcare, fire and hazmat, emergency and medical, rescue, and hand tool operation.The Emcare training facilities are fully equipped with all the necessary specialised training equipment. We offer health and safety training courses at facilities located in Johannesburg, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Cape Town, and Hoedspruit. This is to ensure that all South Africans can have access to the Emcare health and safety training courses.

At the Johannesburg branch, people from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, North West, Mpumalanga, Swaziland, and Mozambique can receive Emcare health and safety training. We offer our services to both South African citizens and neighbouring countries to ensure as many people as possible receive excellent health and safety training.

For groups with ten people or more, Emcare will come to your workplace to offer the necessary health and safety training. Emcare's mobile solution includes a fleet of vehicles that are equipped for the relevant course. This enables you to enjoy gaining skills and knowledge on your work premise.The Emcare courses cover a wide range of health and safety topics that are relevant to the workplace. The Emcare first aid training courses are one of the most relevant courses for the workplace.

Emcare First Aid Training:

First aid training is critical for any workplace. Whether your employees are operating heavy machinery or sitting behind a desk, the risk of a workplace medical emergency is always prevalent. Ensuring that all your employees or a select group of your employees have adequate first aid training is important for the health and safety of your workplace.

Emcare offers multiple first aid training courses.

1. Basic First Aid / First Aid Refresher Course.
2. First Aid Level 1 Course.
3. First Aid Level 2 Course.
4. First Aid Level 3 Course.
5. CPR and AED Course.
6. HIV/AIDS Awareness Course.

All the content covered in the Emcare first aid training courses will equip you and your employees with the skills and knowledge to act correctly in a medical emergency. Burns, wounds, choking, and CPR is a few of the topics covered in these first aid training courses.

You will also learn about legislation and ethics relevant to first aid training in the workplace.

All first aid training courses are taught by fully qualified facilitators. All facilitators have a Level 6 Intermediate Life Support Paramedic qualification. Alongside the theoretical knowledge, all the facilitators have over 1000 hours of emergency service work experience.

Emcare is readily available for any queries regarding first aid training. If you are uncertain which course is best suited to your work environment, Emcare will happily offer advice.Ensuring your employees have adequate first aid training is the first step to a successful and safe workplace. The second important step for South African work environments is to ensure that all employees are aware of HIV/AIDS in emergency medical situations.

Emcare HIV/AIDS Awareness Course:

Emcare offers an HIV/AIDS awareness course specifically targeted at the workplace. You and your employees will be educated on HIV/AIDS in the workplace and how to handle HIV/AIDS during a medical emergency.

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course will also educate you and your employees on HIV/AIDS outside of the workplace. You will learn which risky behaviours can lead to HIV/AIDS, the effects of HIV on your immune system, and about antiretroviral medication for living with HIV/AIDS.

Included in the HIV/AIDS awareness course are learner manuals, training equipment, and presentation equipment. Every employee who does the Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course will walk away with a certification that is fully accredited by all relevant regulatory bodies.

Why Choose the Emcare HIV/AIDS Awareness Course for Your Workplace:

There are numerous benefits to choosing Emcare for your company's HIV/AIDS awareness training.

Informative:

Emcare covers a broad scope of topics that are relevant to HIV/AIDS awareness in the workplace. You and your employees will walk away with all the necessary skills and knowledge needed to handle HIV/AIDS in the workplace.

As an employer, you will understand the legal and ethical background of employing people with HIV/AIDS. As an employee with HIV/AIDS, you will gain the necessary skills to live with HIV/AIDS. As an employee with first aid training, you will know how to offer first aid services without risking infection.

Widely Accessible:

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course is available at all Emcare branches. No matter where your business is located in South Africa, you and your company can access the Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course. The HIV/AIDS awareness course is also available to be taught at your workplace.

Professional:

Emcare is positioning itself as the top training provider in South Africa. Our HIV/AIDS awareness course is taught by fully qualified and experienced facilitators to ensure you gain high-quality training. Our services are professional, interactive, and will leave you feeling informed and skilled.

Affordable:

Our high-quality HIV/AIDS awareness course is affordable for your workplace. We aim to increase the value of your work environment by equipping your employees with important HIV/AIDS awareness skills without affecting the company's budget.

Timely:

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course takes two days to complete. This timely course ensures that you gain all the relevant skills and knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS in the workplace without losing valuable work time.

Importance of HIV/AIDS Awareness for Employees with First Aid Training:

Ensuring that all employees with first aid training have an awareness of HIV/AIDS is critical. HIV/AIDS awareness will enable your employees to provide first aid services without discrimination in the workplace.

1) Reduces Spread:

The Emcare HIV/AIDS Awareness course will teach you how HIV is transmitted. HIV is a bloodborne pathogen and one of the ways HIV is transmitted is through blood. Employees with first aid training are at risk of contracting HIV in these few emergency medical situations at the workplace.

• If the injured employee has a bleeding wound and the employee which is administrating first aid has broken skin. Touching HIV-positive blood with intact skin cannot transmit HIV but you should immediately wash your hands thoroughly.
• If the injured employee is administered medication through a needle and the first aid employee accidentally pricks themselves with the used needle.

Employees with HIV/AIDS awareness training will understand these risks and will be able to offer first aid services with minimal chance of transmission. HIV-positive employees with first aid training will also understand how to prevent transmitting HIV to the injured employee.

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course teaches you how to avoid transmission and what to do if the transmission has occurred. If you have an open wound that has come into contact with HIV-positive blood, you can use post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). PEP is a medicine which you can take within 72 hours of exposure which should prevent you from contracting HIV.

2) Precautions:

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course will teach the necessary precautions all employees with first aid training must take when handling HIV-positive people. It is not always possible to know if an injured employee is HIV positive, thus you should always take these general precautions when administering first aid care.

1. Always wear personal protective equipment. The most important personal protective gear to wear is gloves when handling any injury in the workplace.
2. Wash your hands before and after handling a workplace injury with a strong sanitiser.
3. Cover all open wounds immediately to prevent the spreading of blood or other bodily fluids.
4. Avoid touching any broken objects around the injured person.
5. Thoroughly disinfect all surfaces after the injured person has been administered first aid care.

3) Reduces Loss of Life:

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course will educate your employees on HIV and help reduce stigma. If your employees with first aid training have a stigma against other employees with HIV, this may result in prejudice. This can become life-threatening when an employee needs emergency medical care and the first aid servers are unwilling to perform the needed care.

One of the main misconceptions about HIV transmission is that it can be transmitted through saliva. This can stop trained employees from offering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in the instance an employee stops breathing. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is critical and needs to be administered immediately without prejudice.

Education is the best way to reduce the stigma around HIV/AIDS and this can reduce the unnecessary loss of life in the workplace.

Importance of HIV/AIDS Awareness in the Workplace:

Ensuring that both you and your employees are aware of HIV/AIDS is important for the functioning of your workplace.

Reduce Discrimination:

Employers who do not understand HIV/AIDS can discriminate against employing people with HIV/AIDS. Not only is this illegal and unethical, but it is unnecessary. Regarding the workplace, the only concern for contracting HIV is through blood transmission. If your employees have adequate HIV/AIDS awareness training alongside their first aid training, this is not a concern.

Discrimination amongst employees is common in a workplace that is not aware of HIV/AIDS. This can make the work experience for a person with HIV uncomfortable, dangerous, and miserable.

Understanding how HIV is not transmitted will reduce discrimination amongst employees. This is a list of how HIV cannot be spread in the workplace.

1. Using the same bathroom as an HIV-positive employee.
2. If an HIV-positive employee coughs, sneezes, or sweats in the workplace.
3. Sharing food, water, or air with an HIV-positive employee.
4. Shaking hands, touching, or hugging an HIV-positive employee.

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course will ensure that both employers and employees know to not discriminate against HIV-positive people in the workplace.

Workplace Management:

Emcare will teach you how to apply HIV/AIDS awareness to the management of your workplace. There are HIV/AIDS policies that need to be applied to every workplace in South Africa. Emcare will show you how to practically integrate this policy to ensure a productive, ethical, and safe workplace.

Prevention Programs:

Preventing the spread of HIV in South Africa is of the utmost importance. Offering voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) is a suggested preventative measure to offer at your workplace. This provides your employees with the space to know their HIV status as well as receive the necessary counselling to live positively with HIV.

The Emcare HIV/AIDS awareness course will outline all the benefits of offering VCT at your workplace. Emcare will also assist you in finding a VCT service delivery model which will work for your workplace.

Both first aid training and HIV/AIDS awareness are important in every South African workplace.