QA Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care (RQF)

Qualsafe’s Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care (FREC) course gives you the knowledge,
skills and practical competencies related to emergency and urgent care which are required to operate in a clinically governed prehospital emergency care setting..

If you provide prehospital care to patients requiring emergency care/treatment – perhaps because of a specific responsibility at work, or in voluntary and community activities – this qualification will provide you with the practical skills and underpinning knowledge to do so safely. Examples roles are event medical responder, emergency care support worker, close protection operative, police officer, search and rescue officer, firefighter and more.

This qualification and learning outcomes are based on the guidance of:

• Resuscitation Council (UK)
• Assessment Principles for Regulated First Aid Qualifications
• The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) – Faculty of Pre Hospital Care (FPHC)

Our FREC3 course fulfils the competences set out in the Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) skills framework at descriptor level D. It also contains learning content that explicitly addresses The Skills for Health Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF) Level 2 Basic Life Support for staff working with adult and paediatric patients.

This course is also based on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) training standard for delivery of First Aid at Work (FAW) courses for the purposes of The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981.

Our Level 3 FREC course is recognised as a first aid qualification by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to demonstrate the practical administration of safe, prompt, effective prehospital care in situations which can arise when providing emergency treatment and/or management.

Upcoming Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care courses

These courses are provided by our training partners, PLAB Guide Ltd (a Qualsafe Awards Registered Centre No. 0908553) or TrueMedic Ltd (A Qualsafe Awards Registed Centre).

We can also provide our courses for groups of 4-6 people at your own premises. If you have 4-6 staff members interested in this qualification, please email training@promed999.co.uk or call 03333 445442 to discuss.

Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care qualfication details

This qualification contains 3 mandatory units with a Total Qualification Time (TQT) of 55 hours. This is made up of 37 Guided Learning Hours (GLH); the time your are being taught and assessed under the immediate guidance of a trainer/assessor. The additional 18 hours are what you will reasonably spend preparing & studying and towards assessment, directed (but not supervised) by a trainer/assessor, and in applying your practice.

The credit value for this qualification is 6 credits at level 3.

Topics covered

On the Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care course, you’ll first learn the foundations of prehospital trauma care, including understanding the importance of mechanism of injury, energy transfer, injury prediction and how they relate to individual patient care.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to assess, treat and manage trauma patients within your scope of practice, assess
and manage lifethreatening blood loss, assess and manage chest injuries, assess and manage wounds and bleeding, assess and manage a patient with compromised circulation, provide prehospital emergency care to a patient with head, spinal and musculoskeletal injuries, move and handle people in an emergency to a place of relative safety and assist clinicians packaging, moving and handling patients. You’ll also know how to assess and manage wounds and eye injuries, assess and manage a patient with burns or scalds, and manage a patient with sudden poisoning

FREC3 also covers the foundations of prehospital emergency medical care. This means you’ll be able to assess a patient who is unwell within your scope of practice, and manage an unresponsive breathing patient. You’ll also know how to identify and manage a patient experiencing breathing difficulties, assess and manage a patient with suspected major illness, and provide prehospital emergency care to patients who have been overcome by situational or environmental factors.

Assessment

You must complete all assessments & skills tests in the unit successfully within the registration period to achieve the qualification. The minimum time to complete this qualification is 5 days and the maximum is 20 weeks.

Assessment of performance is carried out on a 1:1 basis.

6 x mandatory practical assessments:

• Adult basic life support (BLS) – cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED)
• Airway & ventilation skills
• Child basic life support (BLS) – cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED)
• Infant basic life support (BLS) – cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Prehospital emergency medical care
• Prehospital emergency trauma care

2 x theory assessments:

• Multiple-choice question (MCQ) paper – 60 minutes – pass mark 28/40
• Invigilated examination paper – 30 minutes – pass mark 16/21

Pre-requisites

• Level 2 in literacy (ie GCSE English grades 4-9 or equivalent)
• Level 2 in numeracy (ie GCSE Mathematics grades 4-9 or equivalent)
• Be at least 17 years old on the first day of the training

You won’t need any prior medical/healthcare knowledge to access the course content, though a basic understanding of first aid is desirable.

But, if you hold a regonised, regulated pre hospital care (PHC) qualification, have completed a ‘999’ internal casualty care/first responder course, or are a 2nd/3rd year student paramedic, you can do our shorter (2-day) Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) course instead.

QA Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care (RQF) certificate

You’ll receive your Qualsafe Awards Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care (RQF) e-certificate soon after your results have been submitted.

We’ll issue you with an interim ecertificate confirming what you have been assessed on to cover the time from our Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) confirming your have met the requirement for the award until your certificate is issued. You can show this to employers pending the certificate from the awarding body.

Recommended reading

The recommended learning material for FREC3 is First Response Made Easy by Nigel Barraclough. The book is a comprehensive learning companion created for people studying first response and pre-hospital emergency care. It takes complex clinical concepts and turns them into clear, accessible information without compromising on technical accuracy or the level of detail learners need.

You can prepare for this course and support your learning by reading Ross & Wilson Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness (ISBN 9780702072765). The JRCALC Clinical Guidelines (ISBN 9781859596555) is extremely useful for the treatment protocols for medical emergencies & trauma.

Another useful core text is Ambulance Care Essentials (ISBN 9781859598528). This will support you in your career to put your knowledge into practice.

You may also enjoy reading Generic Core Material – Prehospital Emergency Care Course (ISBN 9780954621377), which provides a comprehensive overview of delivering safe prehospital critical care to seriously ill or injured patients.

In addition, First Aid Made Easy (ISBN 9780955229404) is a comprehensive first aid manual and reference guide providing in-depth, yet easy to understand information on key first aid principles and procedures.

Requalification

Your QA Level 3 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care (RQF) certificate is valid for 3 years. This is dated when you achieve the final unit.

You need to retake the qualification before the certificate expiry date to remain qualified. A shorter (3-day) requalification course is available.

We recommend that you complete annual basic life support (BLS) or immediate life support (ILS) training to maintain your basic skills and keep up-to-date with any changes to prehospital care practice.

Progression

This course is a pre-requisite for the QA Level 4 Certificate in First Response Emergency Care (RQF) qualification. It forms part of the progressive FREC suite of qualifications, which can ulimately lead to registration as a paramedic.

You can increase your knowledge & skills by attending our QA Level 3 Award in Administering Emergency Medical Gases (RQF) course. This covers the use & administration of nitrous oxide / oxygen mixtures.

In addition, this qualification may aid career progression in a relevant profession such as Allied Health Professional (AHP), Paramedic or Nurse.