Meet The Trainer - Nicola in Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks

I’m Nicola, the local Daisy First Aid Trainer for Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks.

Here are 5 things about me…

Why I became a Daisy First Aid Trainer….

When my eldest was born, my cousin arranged a class with Jenni from Daisy First Aid for a group of us. Although our babies tried to distract us, we were all actively involved throughout the class and all felt prepared for weaning, as well as the adventurous toddler years ahead of us.

I came away buzzing and thinking about what an amazing job Jenni had. She got to teach skills that could save a life whilst working around her family life.

I loved my career in HR and Training but like many new mums my priorities in life had changed.

18 months later scrolling through social media one night when up with my youngest, I came across a story about a mum who had used the skills she had learnt from a Daisy First Aid class to save her son’s life.

This was the motivation I needed. I then bought a franchise, re-trained and joined the Daisy team. I have been a franchisee now for 4 years and never regretted my decision – I love what I do.

My background/own experience…

I’ve been a trainer for 15 plus years and a paediatric first aid trainer for 4 years.

Most of my relevant first aid experience has been as a parent with my own children, particularly my youngest who like me is very accident prone!

I share some of these experiences in my classes including gagging and choking incidents, head injuries, burns and the usual bumps and grazes as I feel it makes the class more relevant to the parents, whilst demonstrating that it doesn’t matter how careful or prepared you are, accidents do happen. Knowing what to do when they do occur though, makes all the difference.

What I love about teaching…

I have always loved being a trainer especially seeing learners gradually develop new skills and confidence throughout a course.

This is even more true with my Daisy First Aid classes as I see new and sometimes nervous parents gain confidence throughout the class in their own abilities to help their new baby if they were injured or unwell.

First Aid can be scary for some people, so I always aim to create a relaxed atmosphere and keep an element of fun throughout my classes as I believe that’s people learn best.

What I really love is when people share their amusing first aid experiences, especially grandparents or siblings, of childhood accidents as this always brings plenty of giggles especially when the first aid treatment is a little bit different to what we do now.

My proudest moment…

I will never forget the first time a new mum contacted me after they had used the skills’ they had learnt from my class to successfully help their baby who was choking.

Knowing that I had helped give them the confidence and knowledge to be able to do this left me quite emotional, but most of all proud of the mum.

I still feel the same every time a parent gets in touch!

Something fun/interesting/ or important about me….

Whilst at university I worked in pubs and bars and then became a pub manager before I moved onto becoming a trainer.

It was lots of fun, although I did have to deal with lots of challenging situations and various first aid incidents including one for myself when I broke my leg trying to clear a dance floor!

What I offer & where…

I run Daisy First Aid Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks. I cover Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, West Kingsdown, Tonbridge, Edenbridge, Forest Row and everywhere in between.

The classes I offer are:

1 hour baby first aid for babies 12 months and under (online only).
2 hour award winning family first aid class (online and in-person when restrictions allow).
2 hour duty of care class (online and in-person when restrictions allow).
6 hour emergency paediatric first aid certificate (in-person)
12 hour paediatric first aid certificate – blended learning Ofsted approved course (6 hours e-learning and 6 hours in-person).

All classes are CPD accreditied.

You can find out what’s included in our classes and see upcoming class dates on our booking site – www.bookwhen.com/dfatunbridgewells

If you’d like to enquire about the Ofsted approved courses for childcare professionals please get in touch on tunbridgewells@daisyfirstaid.com