Certified first responder

First responders typically provide advanced first aid level care, CPR, and automated external defibrillator (AED) usage.

Courses are offered by many sources including the Canadian Red Cross, and St. John Ambulance, and the Department of National Defence.

"First Responder" level courses are between 40 and 60 hours in length and is considered the minimum level of training for crews providing medical standby at events, as well as for employment with some private stable transport companies that provide inter-hospital transfer for patients in need of a bed, but are stable and do not require advanced medical care.

While all Certified First Responders in Canada are covered under Good Samaritan laws[2] in jurisdictions where they are enacted, in some cases they have a Duty To Act for example, Ontario.

[3] While Certified First Responders in general are not required to render aid to injured/ill persons, those who work in the aforementioned areas can be accused of and prosecuted for negligence if they fail to respond when notified of a medical emergency, if their care does not meet the standard to which they were trained, or their care exceeds their scope of practice and causes harm to the patient.

In addition, in France there exists a network of first responder associations, as French Red Cross (Croix-rouge française), French Civil Protection (Protection civile), FFSS (Fédération Française de Sauvetage et de Secourisme) or others.

In the United Kingdom, most statutory NHS ambulance services deploy paid first responders who drive dedicated rapid response vehicles.

These are typically estate cars, MPVs or 4x4s, are liveried with high-visibility ambulance markings, and fitted with blue flashing lights and sirens.

A Community First Responder Scheme is made up of groups of volunteers who, within the community in which they live or work, have been trained to attend emergency calls received by the NHS (National Health Service) Ambulance Service, providing potentially life-saving treatment and first aid until an emergency ambulance arrives.

Also, some rural communities could not afford the comprehensive training and highly experienced instructors required for a full EMT-Basic course.

The American Red Cross conducts a course titled "Emergency Medical Response" that fits this definition.

The skills allowed at this level are very similar to an EMT's including bleeding control, positive pressure ventilation with a bag valve mask, oral airway, nasal airway, supplemental oxygen administration, suctioning, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), manual stabilization of fractures, and assisting in the administration of basic medications such as epinephrine auto-injectors, oral glucose, and inhalers.

Some exceptions in some jurisdictions include insertion of King airways or combi-tubes, traction splinting, and administration of nebulized albuterol.

The National Fire Protection Association standards 1006[8] and 1670[9] state that all "rescuers" must have medical training to perform any technical rescue operation, including cutting the vehicle itself during an extrication.

For example, all firefighters of the New York City Fire Department require a valid CFR-D (Certified First Responder - Defibrillation) certification.