You pay peanuts you get monkeys

On Friday I had a conversation with the Manager of a construction company. I was trying to interest him in our Safe and Sound First Aid Courses that we run for builders.
"I am sorry," he said, "but I can get it much cheaper."

"How much cheaper," I asked.

"£50 per person."

"I would like to invite you on one of our courses as our guest so you can  how good we are at training." I replied.

I know that our training is just about the best in the industry. Why? because we are told this by our clients.  Many of them tell us that they have never been on such a brilliant course.

"I am not interested," said the manager. "I don't care about the quality, just the cost."

And with that the conversation ended. Well what more could I say? Except perhaps when you go out for your next business lunch, or a boozy night out with colleagues which will undoubtedly cost nearly as much as one of our courses I really hope that if something gets stuck in your throat, there is someone nearby that has attended a good first aid training course.

And I say this because  a few weeks ago a builder had told us that  had although he had attended a course through his company a few years ago and  he didn't remember anything.

The thing about first aid is that it is absolutely vital that you get good training.  It is not the most exciting thing to learn and especially if you are on a 3 Day course. I have been on one, and I won't name the well know national company, when after Day 1 I felt like slitting my wrists rather than go back for Day 2. It was so incredibly boring, flat, and the trainer had the personality of a newt. Actually I have no idea what kind of personality a newt has but I suspect it isn't very exciting.

If you have good training then it will stay with you and should an emergency ever happen and you need to call on these skills, you will remember what the trainer has taught you.

This is what  Simon Godley of 42 The Dental Practice said about our training.

“Everyone at our practice really enjoyed the  CPR training (which was a first) Marks enthusiasm was  infectious. His obvious "hands on" experience, depth of knowledge medical Emergencies and his ability to break things down into easy to remember 'bite size chunks' was really appreciated by us all. I could hear the nurses repeating comic little phrases he threw in and I'm sure they'll remember more because of it.I would highly recommend this to anyone who's thinking of booking a group CPR session for their practice.”

I think it is a sad reflection on our society that First Aid is so poorly valued.  Surely all companies what to ensure that their staff are safe and prepared should an emergency occur.  I believe that there are lots of good trainers out there but also lots of bad ones. An  old adage comes to mind -- you pay peanuts you get monkeys