Forest school First Aid Reviews
The best first aid training that I have ever had. Time was really well spent on giving learners the confidence to just give it a go when faced with a first aid situation. Trainers were non-judgemental and supportive throughout. Thank you so much.
13th October 2025
I’ve just completed a two-day Outdoor First Aid course with ELST, run by four absolutely brilliant instructors – Andy, Shaun, Rob and Rob. This was my first ever first aid course and I cannot thank them enough!
I’d always thought learning first aid would be overwhelming with lots of diagrams and presentations, but there wasn’t one in sight. Everything was completely hands-on and practical, with realistic outdoor scenarios that really brought the learning to life.
The team were knowledgeable, supportive and made the whole experience enjoyable and engaging. I came away feeling so much more confident in my ability to deal with real situations outdoors, and I’ll definitely be back in three years for my renewal.
Highly recommend this course to anyone who spends time outdoors – it’s a real confidence booster!
Wishing you all the best,
Leslie Hackett
9th October 2025
“This is by far the best first aid course I’ve ever attended. Each topic was delivered in a clear, engaging, and memorable way—everything you need to feel confident in an emergency. An outstanding course that I would highly recommend to anyone!”
Wishing you all the best,
Leslie Hackett
17th September 2025
Brilliant. Intuitive. Refreshing. Engaging. FUN!
I’ve just returned from a 2-day Outdoor Emergency First Aid course with Andy Sullivan. I could list the numerous life-saving techniques I have learnt in the last 2 days, but the most important takeaway is Andy’s ability to inspire confidence in your abilities. His evidence-based approach instils the belief that just being on the scene and carrying out the basics could be the difference between life or death for someone. That confidence in your own abilities is vital in these situations.
No complex numbers or particular order of how to do things, Andy goes into the biology of what we do giving you a far better understanding of why we do it.
I’ve been on first aid courses before, which are primarily PowerPoint-based with some mannequin work, but this was next level. Real, acted-out scenarios with prosthetics and make-up and discussions after each scenario about how the teams tackled it. This really allows you to understand potential situations far more accurately than just looking at a slide.
Andy has years of real-life experience and the outdoor environment we trained in added to the authenticity and memorability of the situations we encountered. He tells of his own experiences to make everything relatable.
He is genuinely a top guy with a natural aptitude for passing on his knowledge and skillsets.
It was also a great team bonding exercise for my colleagues and me; everyone had a fantastic time.
(I’m sure the sunshine helped as well!)
I cannot recommend this course highly enough. It was the best course I’ve attended.
Thanks, Andy.
All the best!
17th June 2025
By far and away the best course I’ve ever attended. Andy & Shaun’s approach is both personal & effective. Their teaching style really engages everyone and by making it not just hands on but very real, you can’t help but throw yourself in & gain confidence in your own abilities. With not only no fear of getting it wrong but actually so encouraging to learn from your mistakes.
Can’t recommend them or their courses enough.
The whole team, from admin to delivery of the course is 1st class.
Thanks guys!
10th June 2025
I just wanted to write and say thank you so much for a really interesting, engaging and informative two days doing the outdoor first aid course. Of all the first aid courses I’ve done this has left me the most enthused and empowered to feel like I know what I need for my first aid kit and what help I can provide in the unfortunate event of needing to give first aid.
The way the two of you brought scenarios to life with very realistic acting and props, whilst talking through processes clearly and inviting group interactivity has really helped those all important messages and knowledge sink in. I really appreciated hearing you’re real life stories as well.
One particular element that I was impressed with was your focus on mental health throughout the course. It is the first, first aid course I have done where the mental health impact on both the victim of an event and particularly yourself as first aider has been thought about and the suggestions you gave for managing this were both practical and thoughtful.
I also especially appreciated how relaxed the course was in terms of not stressing about detailed technique because that is not realistic. The learn and evaluate as we go approach really made me feel at ease and because I wasn’t stressing about being ‘tested’, it made me more open to absorbing the information and more confident to engage.
Finally and on a more personal note, I am so glad I was doing your course as my first two days away from my 10 month old baby. Honestly, I was dreading it, but given all of the above – the relaxed atmosphere, how engaging and interactive the content was – I couldn’t have asked for a more positive distraction. And I am now really excited to share this knowledge and skills with my son when he is a little older. Thank you for being so caring and empathic to this particular circumstance throughout the course.
9th June 2025
A massive Thank you to Andy & Shaun for delivering such a fantastic first aid course! Very practical, hands on approach which I felt was a perfect way to soak up all of the information on the course! I’ve come away confident that I can apply what I’ve learnt in a real life situation! I will definitely be booking with Andy & Shaun in the future! Thank you again guys was a really enjoyable 2 days!
12th March 2025
Forget about any first aid course you may have done in the past and just do this one instead! I had an absolutely amazing experience with the ELS Team on my first aid course this weekend, it was like no other I have attended.
Our group were encouraged to get hands on straight away (in a ‘COVID secure’ way) without any of the usual awkward role play and classroom based powerpoint presentations. The real-life scenarios and actively getting involved has given me so much confidence in my ability to administer first aid.
Having attended first aid courses with other providers, I never felt prepared to deal with emergency first aid situations but after this weekend with ELST I can honestly say I feel ready to deal with (or at least attempt to deal with) a variety of emergency situations.
The training is thorough and interesting with a good opportunity for everyone to get involved. Plus you get front row seats to some Oscar level performances! I will definitely be returning in three years time!