First Responder and First Aider

[ken_nerve]

Hey guys,

I've got a few options here in Singapore with regards to Wilderness First Aid/Responder.

Now... Whats the difference between First Responder and First Aid?

Most of the Wilderness First Aid courses are either 1 or 2 day non-residential courses where venue requirements include "air-con classrooms, slide projectors, screen":confused:
Except for one organisation that makes it a residential camp. This organisation's syllabus is almost similar to that of the First Responder course held by Outward Bound School.

Its really confusing. I don't wanna sign up for a useless course.

[allanscot]

The first responder (they called it first response) course I was on recently was just a few hours long. It was about how to deal with a casualty if you are first on a scene, to make them comfortable, asses dangers and what could be wrong etc. The only first aid was how to deal with the basics like cuts, burns. They went into how to do CPR but advised not to use it!



I would like to do a full first aid course at some point so I would recommend doing that from the start. Might be different over there though :)

[jbgraham]

In the United States, Wilderness First Responder is a more advanced course than Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Aid takes two days and Wilderness First Responder takes eight. Most instructional courses, like Outward Bound, require their instructors to be Wilderness First responders, where as many hiking clubs require their leaders to be certified in Wilderness First Aid.

[ken_nerve]

Hmm.. I don't know... But the Wilderness First Aid courses seem very suspicious. Especially with requirements like "air-con room, slide projector and screen" even though they are accredited.
It seems Wilderness First Aid is just for show, to allow half baked fellows to qualify for the Mountaineering instructor course.

[Survivaldon]

Speaking as a former paramedic, I recommend that you take both courses.

That way you will be more assured of hitting all of the pertinent topics. What they might miss covering in one class you will get in the other.

If they are both accredited courses then they should be good classes. :)

[ken_nerve]

$640 for the First Responder
$150 for the First Aider

Thats $790:eek:

I think I'll just go for the First Responder Course, I'll be serving my compulsory 24 months of National Service in the Army sometime in September or October, so might as well go for the course held by Outward Bound School. I have a feeling it'll benefit me during my 2 yrs with the Army.

[jbgraham]

In thinking of what level of first aid course to take, one also has to think about what level of training you can sustain. All these levels need to be recertified every two years, and I would maintain that even that may not be enough to maintain proficiency. In my Search and Rescue group, we have EMTs and Paramedics, but there is a big difference between those who are merely certified and those who are practicing on a regular basis by working on a Rescue Squad. Better to be throughly trained and frequently practiced at a lower level of emergency care than to take an advanced course as a one shot affair.

[Ollie]

I can vouch for that - I took a fairly basic first aid course a few years ago and I can't remember any of it now :(

[Digby]

I'm one of those people who despite having electronic diaries and every conceivable memory aid, manages to allow my first aid certificates to expire, which means I have been on three 'starter' qualification courses in the last fifteen years.

After attending an excellent 'Mountain First Aid' course at Plas Y Brenin, I found myself in a standard 'First Aid in the Workplace' course being run by St John Ambulance. When I asked about strapping broken legs, I was told not to be silly - you would wait a few minutes for the ambulance. The Plas Y Brenin course went into fine detail about this, including setting bones using a (I forgot the name) stretching contraption.

Apart from the amount of training required, there is a fundamental difference in the way you behave in a first aid situation depending on whether you expect medical help to arrive in seven minutes or seven hours!

[Hillwalker]

In the UK this is a little more complicated. generally speaking there are at least three different qualification levels.

A First Aid certificate might be a short course of just a few hours which assumes that help will be with you in a few minutes, it is about stemming bleeding and performing CPR. Then there is the HSE level of First Aid which is about 20+ hours and assumes that beyond the previous you might have to treat some more complex conditions and injuries. This is the most usual level for most people in most walks of life including exploring the hills.

The next level is probably the Mountain Rescue Council Casualty Care Certificate (MRC), before studying this you must already have the above First Aid Certificate. The MRC includes the treatment and evacuation of people with spinal, pelvic and any other injuries that the ordinary First Aider has been taught NOT to attempt to evacuate. It includes the use of many of the drugs carried by themselves and paramedic, including morphine.

Between the two one finds 'outdoor' First Aid courses which take the whole concept of traditional First Aid and applies it to the outdoors, many hours or days away from help. These courses are most useful for Outdoor Leaders etc.

The title First Responder is fairly new in UK, and is a label used by designated people who live in remote villages (some not very remote) and who have been trained to use a defibrillator. They are alerted by the Ambulance Authority and attend to heart attacks in their neighbourhood until the ambulance arrives. My understanding is that they might not be comprehensively trained in other aspects of First Aid but I could be wrong.

[Shaggysheep]

Intresting no one has memtioned First Aid at Work which is a four day course. This covers every form of causalty you are going to come across. I am sent by my employers to be trained as a First Aider at work. I have found this is also very usefull to use when I am out hiking in the hills. Also why not enquire with your local Red Cross or St Johns as they both run detailed courses and a resonable price, and are usally local to where you live

[Digby]

The First Aid at Work is an excellent foundation for a first aider and goes into a lot of useful detail about how to react to an incident in an urban situation. With this qualification on its own, you will probably be able to cope with most incidents you are likely to encounter in wild country. To equip you for the odd occasions when you do encounter a really serious situation, I would fully recommend one of the 'top up' courses run by many outdoor centres such as Plas Y Brenin. Apart from the extra knowledge and skill you get from the course, they work wonders in giving you extra confidence to deal with every-day first aid situations.

[insane_climber]

first responder is first on seen and will normaly know basic life support and will the sumon help
a first aider is trained in basic life support and well as being abe to trat other problems and coditions