Level 3 · Typically five days
First Response Emergency Care (FREC 3)
A step beyond workplace first aid: structured pre-hospital patient assessment and emergency care for responders working before, or alongside, the ambulance service.
Qualsafe Level 3 Award in First Response Emergency Care (RQF)
At a glance
The essentials.
Level 3
Five days in the classroom
53 hours
Qualsafe Awards
Three years
603/6987/5
Who it is for
Is this the right course?
FREC 3 is for people who may have to provide emergency care before the ambulance service arrives, or work alongside it. It is our entry-level professional pre-hospital qualification rather than another workplace first aid course.
It suits event medical staff and first responders, private ambulance crews, security and close protection teams, search and rescue volunteers, and people working in higher-risk industry, utilities, construction or military settings. It is also a sound starting point if you intend to build a career in pre-hospital or ambulance care.
Before you book
- You must be 17 or over on the first day of training
- No previous qualification is required, though a basic understanding of first aid helps
- Qualsafe recommends Level 2 literacy or equivalent
- The course is physically demanding: expect CPR, floor-level work, manual handling and realistic scenarios
Tell us in advance if you need any reasonable adjustments or additional support and we will arrange it.
What it covers
On the course.
One mandatory unit in three components: patient assessment and management, emergency trauma, and emergency medical care.
- Your role, responsibilities, professional standards, consent and documentation
- Scene safety and dynamic risk assessment
- Structured primary and secondary surveys, AVPU and SAMPLE history
- Airway management, including adjuncts, suction and choking
- Adult, child and infant basic life support, AED use and bag-valve-mask ventilation
- Emergency oxygen therapy
- Catastrophic haemorrhage, tourniquets and haemostatic dressings
- Chest, abdominal, pelvic, spinal and musculoskeletal trauma
- Shock, burns and environmental emergencies
- Asthma, anaphylaxis, seizures, diabetes and other medical emergencies
- Monitoring, reassessment and handover to further clinical care
Hands-on from the start
This is a practical course. You will train with the equipment used in pre-hospital and event medicine, including oxygen, bag-valve-masks, suction, airway adjuncts, AEDs, pulse oximetry, tourniquets, haemostatic agents, chest seals, pelvic splints, collars, scoop stretchers and limb splints. Because we also provide event medical cover, we can run scenarios that reflect real events rather than teaching it as classroom first aid.
How you are assessed
A combination of practical assessments, scenario-based assessment and theory examinations, in accordance with the current Qualsafe Awards assessment specification. We will confirm the exact assessment components with you before your course.
Pricing
Costs and dates.
Coming soon. Course fees and scheduled dates are being finalised. We deliver at your premises or at a venue we arrange — tell us your numbers and preferred dates and we will come back with options and a price.
Where it leads
After FREC 3.
Your certificate is valid for three years, and you must requalify before it expires to stay qualified. Qualsafe also recommends annual basic life support training in between, to keep your resuscitation skills current.
FREC 3 is the recognised route into FREC 4. Before you can start Level 4 you will need evidence of 118 hours of contextualised learning and practice, so the usual path is: FREC 3, then operational experience and CPD, then FREC 4.