First Aid Course Levels: Know The Difference

Having a first aid course qualification is highly beneficial in this day and age. Not only does it look good on your curriculum vitae (CV), but it also provides preparation to handle many medical emergencies when a medical professional is away. But how do you go about getting one? Where do you even start? If you live in South Africa, the most straightforward answer is to visit the EMCARE website and sign up for one of our first aid course training sessions, which can be found at any of our six branches across the country.

EMCARE offers qualifications for everybody, from beginners just learning the basics to more advanced students. This article will look at the three levels of EMCARE first aid course qualifications and examples of what you will learn at each level.

Beginner: First Aid Level 1 (FA1)

Selecting the FA1 course generally means that it is your first time encountering first aid training or your previous level 1 qualification has expired. All beginner, intermediate, or advanced classes are only valid for three years. Either way, this is where your training begins, and, through EMCARE, will take two days to complete. Once you have obtained this qualification, you will be eligible to take on even more advanced training in levels 2 and 3. This section will look at three of the most important things you will learn at the primary level.

• Principles of Emergency Care and Safety:
  The principles of emergency care and safety are the foundation of any first aid course and are always covered first. Let us look at some of the principles in greater detail:
  
  
  • The 3 Ps of Treatment: When providing help to someone in need, your actions should always be guided by the three Ps. This includes 1. Preserve Life 2. Prevent further Injury, and 3. Promote Recovery
    
    
  • Two more Ps: When conducting primary health care actions, along with the three Ps mentioned above, you should also look to promote two more Ps if you are permitted time. These are 1. Prevention of injuries for people of any age, and 2. Promotion of healthy lifestyles.
    
    
• Emergency Scene Management:
  Now that you know the basic principles of first aid, another important aspect for beginners is managing an emergency scene. Let us look at the three priorities a first aider should consider when arriving on an emergency scene:
  
  
  • First Priority: The safety of rescuers; although they are there to help, they should remain safe themselves. Therefore, approaching an emergency scene carefully is of utmost importance.
    
    
  • Second Priority: Confirm emergency services are on their way. Your job as a first aider is not to provide continuous medical care but medical assistance until medical professionals can arrive to take over.
    
    
  • Third Priority: Take the leadership role. If you are the only qualified first aider on site, you must take control of the situation and impose authority in terms of medical care.
    
    
• Emergency Care Equipment:
  Although you will only sometimes have the correct medical gear, depending on your situation, it is essential to be introduced to the equipment that could help you with your first aid treatment. Below is some of the equipment you will be introduced to in a level 1 first aid course:
  
  
  • Jump Bag: A bag used to carry surgical sundries such as bandages, gauze, drips, and syringes.
    
    
  • Bag Valve Mask: A device used to give manual rescue breaths to a patient who is not breathing.
    
    
  • Suction Unit: Used to suck secretions and fluids out of a patient's airways.
    
    
  • Medication Bag: Used to carry medications paramedics can issue to patients.
    
    
  • Spinal Board: Used to transport patients with spinal injuries.

Intermediate: First Aid Level 2 (FA2)

Congratulations, you’ve already completed your level one qualification and want to train further. We are now at the intermediate stage of first aid training. This first aid course will take three days to complete. Let us look at three elements of this course not covered in the beginner course.

• Child and Infant CPR
  Within the intermediate first aid course, you will be introduced to the care of children and infants. Due to their vulnerable nature, the method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is different from those you would use on older children or adults. Some of the differences include the following:
  
  
  • When checking whether an infant is unconscious, you should not tap or shake the child but rather flick the soles of their feet or gently stroke the baby.
    
    
  • Whereas with adults, if you have the choice between calling emergency services or starting with CPR, you are encouraged to call emergency services first; with infants, you should look to begin CPR as soon as possible.
    
    
  • With infant CPR, you should not look to do compression-only CPR but always look to do the conventional CPR rotation, alternating between 30 compressions followed by two breaths.
    
    
• Poisoning, Bites, and Stings
  Another first, in the intermediate course, is the introductory knowledge on handling situations involving poison through ingestion or from bites or stings. This training section will teach you to identify when poison has been applied. Some of the most common symptoms you will be taught are as follows:
  
  
  • Burns or redness around the mouth and lips.
    
    
  • Breath that smells like chemicals. (e.g., gasoline or paint)
    
    
  • Vomiting
    
    
  • Confusion or altered mental state.
  
  
• Elementary and Applied Anatomy & Physiology
  Finally, for this article, but not for your intermediate first aid course, another new aspect of learning includes theoretical knowledge about the human body. The system provides training materials on human anatomy and physiology. You may think these are the same things, but they are different and here’s how: Anatomy: Refers to the internal and external structures that make up the human body and how they interact.
  Physiology: Refers to the study of the function of each structure in detail.
  

Advanced: First Aid Level 3 (FA3)

EMCARE provides the final level of first aid training too. This course takes four days to complete and with it you will be equipped to take on complex and dangerous emergencies. This course is ideal for first responders such as; firemen, police, security professionals, and emergency response teams. So let us look at a unique situation you would only be trained to deal with in a level 3 course – childbirth:

Emergency Childbirth

Childbirth should always be conducted in a safe, sterile environment, with trained doctors to look after the mother’s and child’s health needs. But there are many situations where this is impossible, and you will need to conduct emergency childbirth. Luckily with a level 3 first aid course, you will be ready. The steps you will be taught are as follows:

• Step 1: Make sure the patient is lying on her back on a steady and stable surface. Encourage them to pant through contractions.
  
  
• Step 2: Ensure adequate materials like towels and blankets if a baby comes out slippery.
  
  
• Step 3: The environment should be as sterile as possible to prevent diseases for both the mother and baby. Importantly, this means washing your hands and, if possible, wearing latex gloves.
  
  
• Step 4: As the head becomes visible, it is essential to put your hand in a position behind the baby’s head where it can be supported.
  
  
• Step 5: You should never look to pull on the baby’s body or head to get the baby out. You should let the labour and contractions happen naturally and help guide the baby out.
  
  
• Step 6: After the baby is entirely out, put the baby on the mom with skin-to-skin contact; make sure to have the baby’s head slightly lower than the body to help drain mucus. Cover both with warm towels and blankets collected in step 2.
  
  
• Step 7: Do not cut or pull at the placenta; there is a common misconception that a baby’s umbilical cord must be cut immediately. But in an emergency, it is better to leave the umbilical cord attached; the placenta will generally deliver itself naturally.
  

First Aid Course Levels: In Conclusion

This article has covered the different accredited first aid course levels offered by EMCARE. Training yourself to handle emergencies could become essential later in life, as you never know what’s waiting around the corner. It also provides you with skills that make you a more well-rounded person and a better applicant for jobs, as it’s the law that businesses have trained employees on-site. So, whether you’re a beginner, an intermediate or training to be a professional, get yourself ready with EMCARE’s first aid training!