Emergency Medicine 2: First Responder
Emergency Medicine 2 (‘First Responder’) is based on the National Standard Curriculum for EMS and is part two of a two-part program designed to certify students as US DOT First Responders. EM-2 continues the training started in EM-1 with a more expanded focus on emergency medical topics including childbirth, pediatric emergencies, geriatric considerations, and special EMS-related issues.
To receive US DOT First Responder certification, students must successfully complete both EM-1 and EM-2.
Topics include:
The Human Body • Respiratory System • Airway Management • Airway Adjuncts • Ventilation Techniques • Circulation System • Advanced CPR/AED • Environmental Emergencies • Industrial Emergencies • Shock (Advanced) • Childbirth • Pediatric Care Geriatric Care • EMS Operations • First Response to Terrorist Incidents
Prerequisite
All students attending this course must successfuly complete Emergency Medicine 1: Street Ready (EM103-OS) prior to attending this course.
Group On-Site Option
This course may be presented to private groups as on-site training. For details about hosting this course, contact:
Craig Gundry, CPS, CHS-III
DIrector of Special Projects
Email: cgundry@s2institute.com
About the US DOT First Responder Program
The U.S. Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) recognized a gap between the typical eight hours training required for providing advanced first aid (as taught by the Red Cross) and the 120 hours typical of an EMT-Basic program. Also, some rural communities could not afford the comprehensive training and highly experienced instructors required for a full EMT-Basic course. The First Responder training program began in 1979 as an outgrowth of the "Crash Injury Management" course.
In 1995 the D.O.T. issued a manual for an intermediate level of training called "First Responder." This training can be completed in forty to sixty hours. The first responder training is intended to fill the gap between First Aid and EMT-Basic.
First Responders in the US can perform a variety of medical techniques not available to First Aiders.
- Oxygen Therapy
- Childbirth
- Triage and Multiple Trauma
- Airway Management
- Moving Patients
- Assisting Patients in using medications such as inhalers, auto-injectors, nitroglycerin pills, etc.
- Transportation of Patients
- Assisting medical professionals
Lifesaving skills in the first responder course include recognizing unsafe scenes and hazardous materials emergencies, protection from bloodborne pathogens, controlling bleeding, applying splints, conducting a primary life-saving patient assessment, in-line spinal stabilization and transport, emergency defibrillation, when to call for more advanced medical help, and the use of oxygen and airway adjuncts. First Responders can recognize and treat a wide variety of ailments, including, but not limited to, strokes, heart attacks, poisonings, shock, hypo- and hyperglycemia, and heat- and cold-related emergencies. First Responders are also trained to assist with the delivery of babies. However, a first responder does not have an EMT's skill at patient assessment and evaluation. They also lack the basic pharmacology training EMTs receive, and are thus not allowed to administer oral Glucose and Activated Charcoal, or assist with Nitro or inhalers. First responders do not have enough training to be the highest level of certification on a BLS ambulance, but may be present, although this is not their primary duty. They serve as secondary providers with some volunteer EMS services. A certified first responder can be seen either as an advanced first aid provider, or as a somewhat limited provider of emergency medical care.

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