What does OFA mean in HEALTHCARE

An Operational First Aider (OFA) is a person who has been trained and certified to provide medical assistance in emergency situations. They are qualified to perform basic life support like cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the administration of drugs or equipment as deemed necessary in an emergency situation.

OFAs must be trained and certified by a body accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). The specific qualifications and requirements will depend on the area of work, but typically include supervisor-level training, knowledge of local emergency plans, and skills related to crisis management.

OFAs often respond to work-related health issues such as accidents, injuries and illnesses. Depending on the context they may also be required to respond to high-risk scenarios such as natural disasters or hostage/active shooter situations.

An OFA's primary role is to assess the situation, stabilise any injured parties, provide first aid treatment where necessary, assist in managing panic or distress around them, communicate with other relevant staff or emergency personnel if required, and monitor the incident until adequately resolved.

Not necessarily - for instance if there are multiple casualties then their duties might involve coordinating remote response teams via phone or other communication channels until help can arrive at the scene.

Not necessarily - depending on their specific role they might not need medical training beyond first aid certification. However it is important that OFAs understand how their actions could impact on patient safety so they must have a good working knowledge of basic lifesaving protocols and medical terminology.

In addition to an operational first aider there should usually be someone present with responsibility for managing the overall incident - this could be anyone from a senior manager/supervisor to someone formally designated as the Incident Commander (IC). Furthermore depending on the type of incident there might be other specialist responders such as Fire & Rescue or HSE personnel which must coordinate with each other effectively.

To become certified as an operational first aider you will typically need to complete a qualification recognised by NZQA - this could take anywhere between 8 hours for basic certification up to several full days for more comprehensive courses designed for specific workplace contexts. Further information can usually be obtained from your local National Health Service (NHS) office or through online resources such as NZQA websites.