Recreation Oak Bay is a hotspot of technological safety.
They recently finished a new format utilized by companies nation-wide, a “blended learning” Standard First Aid course through Canadian Red Cross.
“It’s a new format the Red Cross is offering, it was just introduced in the spring of this year,” said Alana Marks, the aquatics programmer for Recreation Oak Bay who introduced the course. “We find a lot of our patrons don’t have the time, or find it difficult to find the two-day timeframe to do the course. It’s limiting for them.”
The new format offers about eight hours of classroom theory online in different modules that include videos and slideshows. Once participants complete that portion, there’s a scheduled one-day practical session with instructors.
“It’s appealing for people with young kids or students,” Marks said.
In the Capital Region, Oak Bay is the first to provide the option with a soft trial of four registrants in September and another (nine currently registered) with a Nov. 29 hands-on date.
“This is a program that is available pretty much across the country. It’s actually been reviewed and approved by workplace regulators in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and a number of provinces out east,” Adamson said. “Oak Bay was one of the first public-offered programs available.”
Those who successfully complete the program get the same education and certification as the traditional two-day classroom setting.
“We have a number of organizations that have picked up the program for within their organizations,” said Dave Adamson, first aid program representative for Canadian Red Cross.
For example, police and fire organizations across B.C. utilize it for for upgrading and ongoing training.
“There are a few others that are looking at it. Oak Bay is the first that has picked it up and is using it.”
Others in Greater Victoria do have it on the radar, he added.
“One of the attractions with recreation centres is the clientele they’re dealing with tend to be young teens or 20s techno-savvy people who are used to doing online learning formats,” Adamson said. “It really fits with their clientele.”
cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com
