Emergency First Response (EFR) Instructors can teach a wide combination of Primary & Secondary Care, Care for Children and CPR&AED level courses to meet the needs of providers. Have you ever had a request for a skill set not covered by any of these CPR and first aid courses, e.g. for Blood Borne Pathogens or Manual Handling?
Current EFR Instructors can write their own unique (distinctive) course outlines to provides skills and training for a specific area not addressed by the existing Emergency First Response programs.
Writing a distinctive specialty course outline can seem daunting. Where do you start? What do you include? How do you submit your distinctive outline? What does EFR require and document during the review process?
Start by logging on to the EFR Instructor website (PADI Members need to access via PADI Pros’ Site/Training Essentials/EFR/EFR Instructor Site) and click on Tool Kit/Course Tools/Course Forms/Instructor – then locate the Specialties heading and click on the link EFR Distinctive Specialty courses. There you will find an EFR Distinctive Specialty Template you can download and use as a formatting guide while you develop your distinctive specialty course outline. The template includes clear guidelines (in blue print) that prompt you what information you need to write there.
Submit your distinctive specialty course outline to your Regional Headquarters along with the EFR Distinctive Specialty Instructor Application Form (found on the EFR Instructor Site in the same area as the Template). Once Emergency First Response receives a distinctive specialty application, staff first verifies that the member is qualified to make this application (issued at least 25 provider level certifications) then verifies the minimum prerequisite qualification (if any) and minimum age for the participants.
Next, staff members read the outline looking for:
- the course purpose (overview)
- the instructor, participant and specialty equipment requirements
- the participant-to-instructor ratio
- the learning objectives and skill performance requirements
- is there is enough content to warrant a specialty course?
If there are any questions or additional information is needed, a staff member will contact the applicant and work together to make any necessary revisions. Once the review is complete, the outline is approved and the special credential is issued to the applicant. Although this will vary with the scope of the specialty, expect to spend a minimum of 8-10 hours creating a distinctive specialty outline.
If you have questions, or need additional information please contact a Training Consultant in your Emergency First Response Regional Headquarters.
