BTEC Certified Trainer : Skills-Based Training

Focus: The primary goal is to teach participants how to prevent and de-escalate conflict safely and legally, using non-physical methods.

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• Key Skills Taught:

  • Understanding Conflict: Recognising the stages of aggression and identifying personal triggers.

  • Communication: Mastering effective verbal (tone, pitch) and non-verbal (body language, positioning) techniques for de-escalation.

  • Legal & Risk: Understanding the law regarding personal safety and the importance of dynamic risk assessment in a live situation.

• Method: The training heavily relies on scenario-based practical sessions to build confidence and apply learned communication strategies.

focuses on providing a legally defensible and risk-managed set of techniques, always positioning restraint as a last resort.

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• Legal Framework: The course begins with a strong focus on Common and Criminal Law, the Human Rights Act, and Health & Safety legislation to ensure all interventions are legally compliant and ethically sound.

• Risk Reduction: A major component is Risk Assessment, specifically identifying and minimizing the severe dangers associated with physical restraint, such as positional asphyxia.

• De-escalation First: The training emphasizes that de-escalation and crisis intervention strategies (verbal and non-verbal) must be exhausted before physical force is considered. This reinforces the principle of using the least restrictive option.

• Technique Continuum: Participants learn a range of physical skills, moving from:

  • Personal Safety/Breakaway: Disengaging safely from an assault (e.g., grabs, holds).

  • Non-Harmful Methods: Simple holding, escorting, and guiding techniques suitable for low-level aggression.

  • Restrictive Methods: More complex, controlled restraint techniques used only when there is an immediate risk of harm, along with controlled take-up and take-down procedures.

• Post-Incident: Trainees learn the importance of reporting, documentation, and gradual relaxation of the restraint to allow the subject to regain self-control.

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focuses on ensuring staff can use mechanical restraints safely, professionally, and, most importantly, legally.

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• Legal & Ethical Foundation: The course begins by establishing the legal right and justification for using handcuffs, referencing Common Law, Criminal Law, and Human Rights Act compliance. Handcuff use is strictly defined as a last resort, proportional use of force.

• Risk Mitigation: A key focus is on risk awareness, particularly the severe danger of positional asphyxia and other injuries associated with restraint. Trainees learn to perform dynamic risk assessments before, during, and after application.

• Practical Skills: Participants receive hands-on training covering:

  • The different types of restraints (rigid, hinged, chain-linked, etc.).

  • Safe and effective application techniques for both compliant and non-compliant subjects (including prone/kneeling cuffing).

  • Team communication and safe positioning.

  • Safe removal procedures.

• Accountability: The training heavily emphasizes post-use procedures, including subject aftercare, mandatory incident reporting, and compliant documentation for legal scrutiny.

Focus on ensuring the participants can deploy and use the baton as an intermediate force option safely, effectively, and legally.

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• Legal Justification: The training provides a rigorous grounding in the legal framework, covering Use of Force principles and the law regarding the lawful possession and deployment of the baton. Its use must be proportionate and legally defensible.

• Safety and Risk: A critical component is risk awareness, focusing on anatomy and target areas to be avoided (the "Red Zone" like the head, neck, and spine) to prevent serious or fatal injury.

• Technique Continuum: Participants engage in hands-on practical training covering:

  • Nomenclature and Function: Proper carrying, drawing, and secure deployment/closing of the specific baton type (e.g., expandable/ASP).

  • Defensive Tactics: Using the baton for blocking, parrying, and creating distance (defensive perimeter).

  • Offensive Tactics: Learning effective, legally justified strikes and jabs aimed at non-vital, large muscle groups.

  • Control/Come-Along: Using the baton for leverage and pain compliance to gain control without striking (often applicable in lower-level resistance).

• Accountability: Trainees are taught the importance of post-incident reporting and clear documentation to justify the use of force, ensuring professional accountability.

Focus on ensuring the participants can deploy and use the Pepper Spray as an intermediate force option safely, effectively, and legally.

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• Legal Scrutiny: Heavy emphasis on the specific laws and policies that permit the use of OC spray, ensuring that deployment is always justified, proportionate, and legally defensible (a last-resort compliance tool).

• Safety and Medical: Detailed instruction on the physical and psychological effects of the spray, proper aftercare procedures, and critical awareness of life-threatening risks like positional asphyxia following restraint.

• Deployment Technique: Practical, hands-on training using inert training canisters to teach:

• Proper grip, target areas, and maintaining a safe distance.

• Considering factors like wind and environmental hazards.

• Accountability: Thorough training on detailed post-incident reporting and documentation to explain the rationale for using the spray in line with policy and law.

Focus on specific physical skills (breakaways) and non-lethal tools (pepper spray) to combine avoidance with practical, last-resort techniques.

 

• Grab Break-Aways: Skills to escape wrist grabs, clothing grabs, and bear hugs by attacking the weakness of the attacker's grip (e.g., the thumb gate) and using leverage and whole-body movement to create a swift opening.

• Strangle Breakaways: Since chokes and strangles are immediately life-threatening, techniques involve aggressive, instinctual movements.

• Pepper Spray Usage (Intermediate Force): Instruction covers the safe and legal deployment of the spray as a deterrent and incapacitation tool.

• Technique: Proper grip, aiming for the attacker, and immediate follow-up actions like shouting commands and escaping.

• Overall Goal: To instill a mindset of situational awareness and provide simple, practiced physical and tool-based responses to increase the chances of escaping an assault with minimal injury.