On-Line CPD opportunities
28th April 2020 revised 13th October 2021
Webinars and Podcasts
Webinars and podcasts are (usually) free and easily digestible opportunities for supplemental learning or refreshing stale knowledge. Podcasts, in particular, are useful when driving or traveling.
The Resus Room - This podcast offers a regular slot called “Roadside to Resus” where a particular topic is chosen and discussed between the team (James Yates, Critical Care Paramedic, Rob Fenwick an Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Simon Laing an Emergency Medicine Consultant) how a patient would be managed from ‘Roadside; (i.e. a pre-hospital environment), through to triage and assessment and finally definitive treatment in hospital. This not only provides a great understanding of the topic but also the importance of interoperability between each echelon of care. James Yates’ physiology segments are superb if you really want to understand the nitty-gritty of what is going on with specific illnesses or injuries.
PHEMCast - Another popular Podcast. PHEMCast does not have the same relaxed atmosphere as The Resus Room but usually benefits from guest speakers on a particular topic for each episode, bringing more subject matter expertise.
Life in the Fast Lane - A popular US pre-hospital care podcast.
Trauma Care Webinars - The Trauma Care Webinars offer similar content but with the added benefit of being able to see the presented slides - their charts, graphs, and images. To properly engage in the webinar you will need to clear some dedicated time, unlike the podcasts which can be enjoyed while your washing up or cooking dinner. But they are worthy of 1.5hrs of your time with a cup of tea and a biscuit.
TSG Associates Podcast - The Team at TSG Associates not only have outstanding casualty handling and management products, they also have great Podcasts; all of their guests are specialists in remote, tactical or austere medicine or managing Multi Casualty Incidents. All of them bring a wealth of experience to the chats and offer an interesting perspective. Well worth a listen.
Webinars and Podcasts do not usually offer certification but can be recorded in your CPD Portfolio.
Free CPD courses
All of the following courses are FREE, non-commercial, and count as legitimate CPD for staff training records and their own CVs.
The British Medical Journal e-Learning Program
Basic Life Support - A one-hour on-line refresher program.
Introduction to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - 30 mins
BOC Medical Gases - BOC offers a range of free and paid-for CPD classes on the safe use and delivery of Oxygen and Entonox.
Open University - These are more of a commitment but the OU has a vast range of free online, certificate courses from one to 24-hour duration. Use the search term "Health" to narrow the selection down to more relevant courses such as Public Health, Mental Health, and well being in the workplace, for example. They also offer respected courses on managing and understanding Risk.
ACT Awareness -E Learning - A little bit left-field but wholly relevant for businesses and individuals in modern society. ACT Awareness eLearning is a new Counter-Terrorism awareness product designed for all UK-based companies and organisations and available to the public. The ACT campaign is a 45-minute e-Learning program developed with the UK government's National Counter Terrorism Security Office.
Stop The Bleed - this interactive on-line tutorial fulfills the theory requirement of the Stop The Bleed course. It does not equate to a full course and therefore no certificate is generated but it is still free on-line learning which you can evidence for your CV.
Paid For CPD Courses
AWLS - The Advanced Wilderness Life Support program offers a range of modular courses geared toward remote medical care from casualty assessment and wound care through to altitude and dive medicine. All are eligible for CME credits.
Critical Appraisal Lowdown - Presented by The Resus Room team, The Critical Appraisal Lowdown is an online, podcast-centered course in critical appraisal. The content will enable the user to read, understand and apply appropriate scientific research appropriately to their patients.
The Open University also has a range of higher-level courses which are paid for.
On-Line First Aid courses
Be cautious of many of the "On-Line First Aid" courses which are currently being promoted by less scrupulous training providers as they do not satisfy the criteria set out by the HSE in order for candidates to carry out their duties as First Aiders in the workplace, The HSE guidelines state that:
‘…sufficient time is allocated to classroom based learning and assessment of the practical elements of the syllabus.' and ‘…elements of the syllabus requiring practical demonstration of First-Aid administration should be assessed by direct observation to ensure the competence of candidates…