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VAD Fact Sheet: VAD Training |
- All Voluntary Aid Detachment members had to pass an examination in First Aid. Women members also had to pass an examination in Home Nursing. The training courses often took place in the evening, after their normal day’s work.
Bandaging the head: Illustration from SJA Home Nursing Manual, 1940 |
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Pages from nursing manual, 1939 |
- Courses were taught by qualified doctors and fully-trained nurses and the examinations always included practical exercises. They used First Aid and Nursing textbooks produced by the British Red Cross and the Order of St John. The two organisations still produce up-to-date manuals and provide training today.
Improvised transport for a wounded person, from SJA First Aid for the Injured, 1940 |
- In addition to basic first aid, training during the Second World War also covered the
organisation of air-raid casualty services, the management of seriously injured casualties likely to be encountered following a raid, and the identification and treatment of gas casualties.
British Red Cross VADs running with buckets and stirrup pumps during Air Raid Precautions training |
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Wartime supplement to the British Red Cross First Aid manual, 1942 |
- VADs who held special qualifications could enrol and serve as pharmacists, dispensers, radiographers, hospital cooks, masseuses, laboratory assistants and opticians.
- In order to be regarded as ‘efficient’, VADs were expected to attend at least twelve sessions of duty in a year. They also had to attend annual inspections of arranged by an officer representing the military medical services and pass an annual test in first aid and home nursing.
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