Most American businesses and organizations provide some level of first aid or safety training for their staff and employees. It is imperative that management select a firm to provide consultation, training, and follow up support that is the best fit for their needs. However, choosing a first aid training provider is not an easy task especially when you consider the lack of consistency in the health and safety training industry. Additionally, if you have a large organization there are geographical challenges such as having multiple locations diversely peppered across the country. Countless hours are lost locating qualified vendors, negotiating the investment and terms of the agreement, and selecting the appropriate vendor based on a firm’s corporate first aid training goals. To make matters worse, these efforts are further exacerbated when large offices require their human resources departments to properly vet each vendor for each office.

Here are 3 essential factors to consider when deciding who to hire to provide your next first aid training session.

1. Know what your first aid training session will include and what, if any, customized programs must be addressed. The vendor must be able to scale based on your organization’s demands, give recommendations regarding industry best practices, and provide much more than basic first aid training. Consider, as you grow, will the vendor be able to help with evacuation training, CPR training, or other customized health and safety programs? If not, they might not be the right vendor for you.
2. Require instruction from medical professionals with years of field experience. The people teaching your office life-saving skills must have extensive experience responding to emergencies. Only professionals who respond daily, who have performed the skills they are teaching, and who have a passion for their craft, will be able to address the critical emotional aspects involved during emergencies. Lay rescuers don’t turn into inactive bystanders because they can’t remember what to do. They freeze, allowing people to die, because they’re scared.
3. The firm selected must be able to provide customized training at all of your facilities – nationally. One vendor, one negotiation, one contract, and one point of contact will save time, money, and allow your organization to contract and expand seamlessly as your organization’s needs change. Rather than asking satellite offices to adhere to corporate policies, then setting them free to find their own vendors and to learn a new field, the corporate office should set the standard and ensure the solution has been appropriately implemented.

If you’re not sure who’ll be showing up to teach your next First Aid training session, its likely that you also aren’t benefiting from economies of scale, financial savings, and the experiences of medical professionals who know the specific needs of your organization. By sticking to these three criteria, you’ll be the hero of the office. Not only because you’ll learn to implement the skills you’ve been taught, but because you’ve saved your firm time and money.