Jim O’Dwyer has been busy!

Jim-ODwyer

Jim O’Dwyer, our Physical Restraint expert has been busy working with the National Association for Healthcare Security, to develop a new industry-standard training programme specifically for healthcare security officers.

The NAHS specified that the new training should be the equivalent of the SIA training and in addition include further training that reflects the scope, complexity and responsibilities of a healthcare security officer role. The ‘additional training’ elements more than doubled the training content of SIA Security Guard Training.

The NAHS also wanted to address the need for suitable physical intervention skills training, as for some time now they had been expressing concern about the variations in training standards and content across the NHS.

The result is a comprehensive suite of three training courses:

  1. Healthcare Security Officer Training
  2. Healthcare Security Officer ‘Top Up’ Training (for those who are already SIA qualified.)
  3. Physical Intervention & Restraint Skills

The Healthcare Security Officer Training course creates a new benchmark in training within healthcare security and really does answer the question ‘What training should we provide?’

The ‘Top Up’ course is for those who are already SIA trained, enabling them to upgrade to the new training standard, avoiding the expense of training duplication.

The Physical Intervention & Restraint Skills course is designed to instil a philosophy and practice of physical intervention as an absolute last resort. The training informs about important factors to consider when deciding whether to intervene physically in a situation and equips security officers with effective, non-pain-compliance, practical skills to employ if physical intervention or restraint becomes necessary. Unlike the SIA physical intervention skills training course for Door Supervisors, the AEGIS course does not stop short of horizontal physical restraint and includes how to restrain a person on a bed, on a trolley and the floor and the safe use of Emergency Restraint Belts (ERB). The Training also incorporates the practical skills needed to carry out Criminal Justice and Immigration Act (CJIA) responsibilities.

The AEGIS Healthcare Security Officer Training Programme stands as a model of best practice.

The NAHS fully endorses this new training. NAHS President ‘Peter Finch said:  ‘’We are delighted to have been involved with the development of this training package…our security officers are our first responders, they are our eyes and our ears of the security operation. It is essential that they are appropriately trained to protect our facilities and staff from harm. This qualification will go a long way in achieving that aim’’.

You can read more about the AEGIS Healthcare Security Officer Training Programme here:

1. The Security News Desk

2. The NAHS web site

3. AEGIS Protective Services web site


Jim is frequently called upon to use this expertise as an expert witness and is willing to discuss any potential case, without obligation.