Thank you for your enquiries
about courses pertaining to emergency medical care.
I am currently in Qatar but I hope that some of general information
below that I send for enquiries similar to yours will help
in some way. If there are any additional enquiries that are
not answered in this article please let me know?
RescueRoxy is based in Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa and
mainly deals with Emergency Medical awareness in the pre-hospital
environment (including first aid) and focuses on predominantly
Child Health and Safety.
I would suggest that you consider starting at least with
a first aid course. Either get a group of people together
(at least 10 to 15) that are serious about learning CPR and
First Aid.
To enable a training institute to send you a quote for a first
aid course these are some of the factors that will be considered:
- Your location - please let them know where you are located?
They will either arrange to do the course at your location
or you could do the course at one of their facilities.
- The number of participants - the greater the number of
participants on any one of the courses the more cost effective
it will be for you. Most training centres will do a course
for a minimum of 10 people. If there are more people then
the course will be less expensive. If the course is just
for you then it may be more feasible to join one of the
other courses (if you are alone it could prove pricey).
- For starters I’d suggest the 4 hour “American
Heart Association’s ‘CPR for Family and Friends
Course’” that covers the most important aspects
pertaining to emergency medicine.
- If you need to complete a course that is approved as an
Occupational Health and Safety course in South Africa then
a current and licensed Level 1 to 3 First Aid Course may
need to be completed. If you already have a current and
compliant Level 1 and 2 First Aid Certificate you could
probably go directly to Level 3. However, if you don't have
Level 1 and 2 already then the training centre will have
to integrate those courses into the overall curriculum.
Once the training centre has this information it should be
sufficient for them to send a quote to you.
The term "Paramedic" is reserved for Advanced Life
Support Providers. It is a very good idea to start with a
Basic Ambulance Course first which will help you start to
understand what an Advanced Life Support Paramedic is and
what it will take to qualify at that level. However, from
what I can tell these short courses are possibly being discontinued.
Regarding the process of becoming an Advanced Life Support
Paramedic, please read through the article called "How
to become a paramedic" on the RescueRoxy website (http://www.rescueroxy.co.za/paramedic.htm).
I think this should help you significantly.
In researching information about emergency medicine some
of the contacts you could consider are:
- The “Resuscitation
Council of Southern Africa” website. Click on
the relevant link in the left margin (e.g. “Basic
Life Support Training Centres). Here you can find additional
information pertaining to the short courses i.e. Basic Ambulance
Course (Basic Life Support Level, about 4 weeks); Ambulance
Emergency Assistant (Intermediate Life Support Level, about
2 months); and Critical Care Assistant (Advanced Life Support
Level, about 9 months).
- The director of Emergency Care Global, Hoosein Ravat (hoosein911@emergencycareglobal.co.za);
Hoosein is also vice chairman of the Resuscitation Council
of Southern Africa; his company’s website is: www.emergencycareglobal.co.za.
- Regarding BAA (Basic Ambulance Assistant) training and
beyond (must be older than 18yrs old) which could lead to
the CCA (Critical Care Assistant) course, please contact
Michelle Van Der Merwe (email: mikkibee2@gmail.com).
Although she is based in Cape Town she is probably more
up to date than most regarding these courses. Perhaps she
may be able to refer you to a training centre in your area.
- You could consider studying through the Lebone College
of Emergency Care (under the Gauteng Department of Health).
Please contact Ms. Frauke Dillschnitter for more information
about the courses they offer (Frauke.Dillschintter@gauteng.gov.za).
- The course offered at the “University of Johannesburg”
and the "Durban University of Technology" is a
4 year degree with options of doing a Masters once the degree
is complete. (See: www.uj.ac.za/emc
and http://www.dut.ac.za/site/awdep.asp?depnum=22614).
If you need anything further please let me know and I will
do what I can to assist.
Yours sincerely,
Mark G. Roxburgh
RescueRoxy
(Association Incorporated under Section 21)
Director & Founder
Mobile: +974 602278
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Paramedic's Children |
