Can CPR Be Assessed on a Table? Reasonable Adjustment and the “Floor” Requirement
What happens when a learner can perform CPR but, because of a physical limitation, cannot get down onto the floor?
Can the manikin simply be moved onto a table as a reasonable adjustment?
It’s an important question, and one that sits at the intersection of accessibility, reasonable adjustment, resuscitation guidance and nationally recognised assessment requirements.
The answer requires an important distinction between being able to perform and participate in CPR training and meeting the assessment requirements of a nationally recognised unit.
The short answer
Yes, a learner can participate in CPR training and practise CPR on a raised surface.
However, where the nationally recognised unit requires CPR to be demonstrated on a manikin on the floor, performing CPR on a table does not satisfy that particular assessment requirement.
Reasonable adjustment can support a learner to participate in training and assessment.
It cannot remove an explicit requirement of the unit.
What does the First Aid Companion Volume say?
The HLT Health Training Package: First Aid Companion Volume, April 2026 provides guidance for RTOs delivering nationally recognised first aid units.
It supports the use of reasonable adjustment but makes clear that adjustments still need to maintain the integrity and required standard of the unit.
For CPR assessment, the Companion Volume is very specific:
“CPR performance must be demonstrated on the floor.”
This means that moving the manikin onto a table may make CPR accessible for the learner and allow them to participate in training, but it does not demonstrate the floor-based assessment requirement.
Put simply:
An assessor cannot sign someone off as competent in a requirement they haven’t been able to demonstrate.
But what does ANZCOR say?
This is where the issue becomes more nuanced.
ANZCOR Guideline 10.1: Basic Life Support Training specifically discusses BLS assessment where a candidate has physical limitations.
ANZCOR recognises that factors such as height, weight, muscle strength and acute or chronic physical conditions can affect someone’s ability to achieve usual CPR performance standards.
It recommends that learners demonstrate CPR skills on a manikin “to the best of their physical ability.”
ANZCOR also acknowledges that some physical factors cannot be changed and that flexibility in the minimum passing standard may be needed in these circumstances.
Importantly, it encourages candidates to understand how they could respond in a real cardiac arrest despite their limitations. That could include commencing CPR to the best of their ability, communicating their limitations to other rescuers or changing roles when another person is available.
So does ANZCOR mean CPR can be assessed on a table?
Not for the purpose of satisfying a nationally recognised unit’s floor requirement.
This is where we need to separate two related, but different, things…
ANZCOR provides clinical and educational guidance about resuscitation and BLS training.
The nationally recognised unit determines what an RTO must assess before awarding competency.
ANZCOR’s guidance around physical limitations does not remove an explicit assessment condition within a nationally recognised unit.
A useful way to think about it is:
ANZCOR asks:
What can this person do in a cardiac arrest, and how can we help them respond to the best of their physical ability?
The assessment requirements ask:
Has this learner demonstrated everything required for this nationally recognised unit?
Those questions can have different answers.
This does not mean the learner “can’t do CPR”
This distinction is incredibly important.
Someone may understand CPR extremely well.
They may be able to recognise cardiac arrest, call for help, use an AED and provide compressions within their physical capabilities.
They may even have significant real-world experience performing CPR.
Being unable to demonstrate CPR on a manikin positioned on the floor does not mean that person has nothing to contribute during a cardiac arrest.
It means they have not demonstrated one specific requirement of that nationally recognised qualification.
Those are very different things.
What can the RTO do?
Make every reasonable adjustment possible.
Support the learner to participate. Adapt teaching methods. Consider the environment and equipment. Provide opportunities to practise and demonstrate their knowledge and skills.
But if an explicit assessment requirement ultimately cannot be demonstrated, the assessor cannot simply remove that requirement and award competency.
The First Aid Companion Volume provides guidance for this situation.
Where a learner is physically unable to meet the assessment requirements, it indicates that issuing a Statement of Attainment is not appropriate.
Instead, RTOs are encouraged to consider issuing a Statement of Attendance, together with a transcript outlining the skills and knowledge the learner was able to achieve.
This allows the person’s learning and abilities to be recognised without certifying a competency requirement they haven’t demonstrated.
Find out what the learner actually needs
Before assuming that not receiving the nationally recognised unit is the end of the road, ask another question:
Why does the learner need CPR training?
Does their workplace specifically require the nationally recognised CPR unit?
Or does it simply require evidence that the person has undertaken CPR training or professional development?
If the nationally recognised unit is specifically required, the learner will need to meet its assessment requirements.
However, if the organisation requires evidence of CPR education or participation, it may potentially accept an alternative such as a Statement of Attendance.
The learner should clarify this with their employer or relevant organisation.
How we frame the conversation matters
There is another responsibility for trainers and assessors that isn’t found on an assessment checklist:
How we explain the outcome to the learner.
Imagine being told:
“You can’t do CPR, so we can’t pass you.”
A learner could very reasonably walk away believing:
I can’t help someone in cardiac arrest.
That is not the message we want to send.
Instead, be precise.
“You can absolutely learn and perform CPR. The issue is that this particular qualification requires you to demonstrate CPR on a manikin on the floor. Because you’re unable to demonstrate that specific assessment requirement, we can’t issue the nationally recognised unit.”
Then don’t end the conversation there.
Talk about what the learner can do.
They may be able to:
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recognise cardiac arrest and call Triple Zero (000)
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retrieve and use an AED
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provide compressions within their physical capabilities
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direct other bystanders
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swap roles with another rescuer
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provide other essential first aid and emergency support.
This reflects the intent of ANZCOR’s guidance: physical limitations should not automatically prevent someone from attempting to help.
Not meeting the assessment requirements of a qualification is not the same as being unable to help in an emergency.
The last thing we want someone leaving CPR training believing is:
“I’m not allowed to help.”
They should leave knowing what they can do and how they can contribute.
Is there a bigger conversation for our industry?
We think there is.
ANZCOR’s current BLS training guidance explicitly recognises that some learners have physical limitations that cannot be changed and recommends demonstrating CPR to the best of their physical ability.
At the same time, nationally recognised first aid assessment includes a specific requirement for CPR to be demonstrated on the floor.
That raises an important question:
Are our current assessment requirements achieving the right balance between assessment integrity, real-world capability and accessibility?
There may be different views on the answer, and requirements may evolve over time.
Those discussions are important.
But there is also a difference between questioning whether a requirement should change and choosing not to apply a requirement that currently exists.
For now, RTOs and assessors must work within the current requirements.
The takeaway
When a learner has a physical limitation, think about three separate questions:
Can they learn CPR?
Very often, yes.
Can reasonable adjustment help them participate?
Very often, yes.
Have they demonstrated every requirement of the nationally recognised unit?
That must be assessed against the requirements of the unit.
Our job is to make CPR education as accessible as possible without changing the competency standard we are required to assess.
And if a learner cannot meet one particular assessment requirement, make sure they understand what that actually means.
It does not mean: You can’t do CPR.
Nor does it mean: You can’t help.
It means they have not met a specific requirement of a particular qualification.
Include wherever possible. Adjust wherever reasonable. Maintain the integrity of assessment. And make sure every learner leaves knowing how they can help in an emergency.
Further reading
HLT Health Training Package: First Aid Companion Volume, April 2026
See particularly Sections 5.1–5.3 and Section 5.9.
ANZCOR Guideline 10.1: Basic Life Support (BLS) Training
See the section addressing BLS assessments impacted by physical limitations of the candidate.
For broader feedback about the Health Training Package and its requirements, visit HumanAbility: