We reached out to husband and wife training team William and Fiona from Somerset, and asked them to share a little about themselves and their journey into teaching first aid courses. Here’s what they said…
How did you both get into training/instructing?
William – My instructing days began in aviation. I qualified first as a civilian flying instructor, then with the military. I loved the teaching, both theory and practise, and I will always maintain that you can learn so much about a job when you’re teaching it.
Fiona – As a nurse I taught students and staff on the ward and also taught groups.
What was your journey that led you both into teaching first aid?
William – I decided to take voluntary redundancy at the time of lockdown, effectively retiring from flying. At age 60 I thought I’d had enough of getting up at 0330, scraping ice off the car and flying somewhere in winter weather. You can get too much of a good thing, they say! It was time to do something else; I had always been first aid trained in the airlines, so when a friend suggested this, I thought putting my skills and experience together was a great idea. We contacted WorkSafe, who were immensely supportive and helpful, and here we are!
Fiona – I am self employed as a hypnotherapist and business was quiet during 2020. William was making a career change and I thought if I joined him it would complement my work (which I love). I wanted a balance of working with people versus my work in hypnotherapy. Having been a qualified nurse for 27 years (once a nurse always a nurse!) I was keen to enjoy delivering first aid training.
What is it like working so closely as a husband and wife training team?
William – One of the main advantages for the students is that as Fiona and I cover alternate topics, they get a change in approach and a change in voice, which breaks the day nicely. We can also demonstrate things like recovery position and bandaging without having to borrow a candidate.
Fiona – Working together means we can get on the same page: we’re together at home and often pipe up with ideas, share learning and debate questions. We work together to improve the sessions and our delivery.
How do your teaching styles differ and how do they complement each other?
William – Fiona tends to use more examples than I do and is often more descriptive. I’m more technical, although I still use examples when needed for illustration. Because of my background I like both precision and procedure. I think situational awareness helps enormously; it was taught as a subject in my career, and I use it a lot. Between us it seems to work well.
Fiona – I use examples from nursing to explain points. The two of us in the class give the students variety. I think we both move about a lot in our teaching!
When teaching who’s the strictest and who is more relaxed in the classroom?
William – I am always very aware of time and the need to stay on track. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I am stricter, but I will definitely move things along if I see them drifting off! I would like to think I’m relaxed at the same time, and it’s important to maintain a sense of humour or it can become very dry!
Fiona – I think William is stricter, he’s great at moving the session on and reigning in the chatter with, “Right troops!” He usually introduces the course and rounds up and leads the course as a whole.
Who talks the most when you are training?
William – Probably equal here, although dare I say it… no I can’t say it!
Fiona – Ok, this is up for debate. We both keep a tab on time. William will saunter over to the lesson plan while I’m talking and I know what he’s up to! However, we’re both so enthusiastic I reckon we’re equal on this!
William and Fiona run their training company First Medic which is based in Frome and deliver First Aid and Fire Safety Training to a wide range of clients. Their website is firstmedic.co.uk.
We’re always keen to hear from our instructors, if you would like to feature in one of our Instructor Spotlight articles please get in touch!