BASICS Scotland is a Scottish charity, dedicated to providing specialist training in pre-hospital emergency care for doctors, nurses and paramedics in Scotland, particularly those working in remote and rural locations.
Their mission is to empower doctors, nurses, and paramedics to deliver lifesaving pre-hospital emergency care. Whether it’s a paramedic responding to an emergency miles from the nearest hospital, or a rural GP supporting an isolated community, BASICS Scotland ensures healthcare professionals have the skills, confidence, and support they need when every second matters.
For Education and Events Manager Carol Robb, the work is both operational and deeply mission-driven. “Our priority is to deliver excellent, high-quality training while achieving the best possible value for our funders. Everything we do is about supporting our charitable aims.” She says.
As a not-for-profit organisation, it is essential for Basics Scotland to keep spending as low as possible, so that they can make the most of their funding. They needed a training management solution that would meet their operational requirements, supported blended learning, and stayed within budget. Arlo delivered the right balance of functionality, flexibility, and cost.
Manual processes, high stakes, and limited resources
Before implementing Arlo, BASICS Scotland’s training operations were heavily manual and disconnected. Payments, registrations, learner data, pre-course materials, and reporting were all managed separately – creating inefficiencies and multiple points of failure.
“Considerable time was spent matching payments with applications, registering learners, sending pre-course materials, and preparing for delivery,” Carol says. “It was time-consuming, costly, and created multiple potential points of failure.”
Meeting governance, auditing, and funder reporting requirements was also challenging, with spreadsheets at the centre of their reporting process.
For a not-for-profit with a responsibility to its funders and learners, these inefficiencies weren’t just inconvenient, they were a barrier to impact. From the first conversation with the Arlo team, BASICS Scotland felt confident they had found the right fit.
Since moving to Arlo, BASICS Scotland has seen improvements across every part of their operations.
Learners now enjoy a smooth, reliable experience with quick online registration, accurate automated communications, and easy access to pre-course materials. Educators and volunteers appreciate having all information organized in one place. Tracking learner progress, preparing for delivery, and managing requirements is far more efficient and intuitive.
Arlo has also made it easy to manage multiple pricing models (NES funded, free, or paid) through the use of templates, reducing complexity across programs. And thanks to stronger reporting tools, demonstrating impact to stakeholders has never been easier.
“Arlo has improved every part of our operation from registrations, communications, pre-course materials, pricing models, reporting, everything. Says Carol. “It’s given us a smoother, more reliable system without increasing our staffing, and it has made demonstrating impact to our funders far more simple.”
Most importantly, they’ve increased the number of courses they deliver without increasing staffing levels.
More courses and better blended learning
A key requirement was the ability to streamline every training format – face-to-face, virtual, elearning, and blended learning – in one place. As a charity delivering specialist clinical training across large geographic areas, this wasn’t just a convenience. It was essential. Every BASICS Scotland course includes pre-course work and previously, this meant managing a separate LMS and manually issuing materials to learners.
Now, with Arlo’s in-built elearning authoring, everything is managed in one platform. Pre-course content is released at the right time, completion can be tracked instantly, and staff have full visibility across every learner.
“Having a single platform that can streamline all of our training formats, including instructor-led, virtual, elearning and blended learning, has been hugely beneficial.” Says Carol. “We can now automate the issuing of pre-course materials and use Arlo’s reporting to track completion. It has significantly streamlined our blended learning delivery.”
Arlo has also made it easier to deliver training in rural areas – an important part of the charity’s mission. With theory completed online, learners can minimize travel while still receiving high-quality, hands-on clinical training locally. And with streamlined workflows, centralized data, and automated processes, the charity has been able to expand its course delivery without growing administrative load.
“We have begun offering paid online learning, whereas previously we only provided pre-course online materials. This has allowed us to reach a wider audience and deliver important education to a much larger and more geographically diverse group of learners. Arlo has enabled us to increase the number of courses we deliver without needing to increase our administrative capacity.” says Carol.
Using Arlo elearning + SCORM
As they began moving more learning online, Arlo’s integrated elearning and SCORM capability became increasingly important.
Arlo’s in-built elearning authoring tool allows you to import your entire SCORM library in minutes and put your existing content to work. Easily migrate and manage your SCORM library, schedule and deliver SCORM alongside instructor-led training, track completions, scores, time spent, and learner activity with built-in reporting, and simplify course management and complexity with everything in one platform. Plus, learners can utilize the SSO learner portal with saved progress, scores, and resume option.
“Having SCORM allowed us to move our existing content seamlessly to Arlo seamlessly.” Says Carol. “Freeing up more administrative time that we can use to develop more standalone online learning products and reach learners who may not be able to attend in person.”
For BASICS Scotland, delivering exceptional learning means providing high-quality, clinically relevant education that is accessible no matter where learners are based. The gold standard is training that is well organized, consistent and engaging, allowing learners to focus on developing their skills rather than navigating complex processes.
“Exceptional learning for us is high-quality, clinically relevant education that is accessible no matter where learners are based. When every delegate feels confident, well supported and able to apply their knowledge effectively in real-world pre-hospital care. Arlo helps us deliver that.” says Carol.
With Arlo, Basics Scotland has improved their operations, significantly reduced administration, expanded their blended learning programmes, improved learner and educator experiences, and increased the number of courses they deliver.
Arlo enables BASICS Scotland to do what matters most: deliver lifesaving education to the communities who need it most.