Emergency First Response (EFR)
We believe everyone should know how to do CPR and basic first aid. So everyone who comes to stay with us takes the Emergency First Response course soon after they arrive.
EFR is PADI’s CPR and first aid course. It isn’t a diving course: it’s taught on land in a single day, and the skills are as useful at home, on the road or on your travels as they are around the water. You learn to help someone in a life-threatening emergency until professional help arrives, and to handle everyday injuries and illnesses that do not need an ambulance but still need someone who knows what to do.
- 1 dayTheory and plenty of hands-on practice, all on land.
- Part of your stayEveryone takes it soon after arriving, unless they’ve done similar training recently.
- 65 USDCovers your PADI manual and certification. Optional, but needed for Rescue Diver and Divemaster.
- 24 monthsHow long your first aid training counts towards Rescue Diver and Divemaster.
The course
What you’ll learn
The course has two parts. Primary Care covers CPR and the skills that go with it: making sure the scene is safe, assessing what’s wrong, giving rescue breaths and chest compressions, and dealing with choking, serious bleeding and shock. Secondary Care is first aid for injuries and illnesses that aren’t life-threatening, such as cuts, sprains and suspected fractures, including how to bandage and splint them.
You practise each skill until it feels natural, then bring them together in short scenarios set up by your instructor, with you taking charge.
Together, Primary and Secondary Care meet PADI’s first aid requirement for the Rescue Diver and Divemaster courses.
- 9primary care skills
- 4secondary care skills
- 4primary care scenarios
- 1secondary care scenario
- 1final written exam
The MCP way
Why everyone learns it
Most people take a first aid course because a job or a dive course asks for it. We teach everyone who stays with us because we believe CPR and basic first aid are skills everyone should have. It’s also part of how we look after each other: on our dive trucks and around base, the people next to you have done the same training.
We keep the day relaxed and fun, because people learn better when they feel at ease. For most people the biggest worry is getting it wrong, so we talk about that too. Any help you give is infinitely better than perfect help withheld.
We break CPR down into a drill that you repeat until it sticks. That way, if you ever need it, months or years from now, it will come back to you.
Beyond our volunteers
We teach it in the community too
EFR is one of the courses we teach to people looking after the coast of Negros Oriental, alongside dive training and survey methods as part of our capacity building work.
In coastal communities, the first person to reach someone who needs help is usually a neighbour, a fisher or a warden. Training them brings first aid to the places it is most often needed, and the skills remain in the community long after the course ends.
Questions we often get
Does my work first aid certificate count?
Usually, yes. If your training is from the past 24 months, covered CPR, and you can show us the certificate or card, you can skip our course. For Rescue Diver and Divemaster, your instructor will check whether it can count in place of EFR.
How long is EFR valid?
Rescue Diver and Divemaster both need first aid training from the past 24 months, and PADI recommends refreshing your skills every two years anyway. If your training is older than that, you simply take the course again with us.
What if I’m not comfortable with mouth-to-mouth?
It’s a common concern. You practise rescue breaths and CPR on manikins, not on each other, and part of the course is using barriers: disposable gloves, and a face shield or pocket mask for rescue breaths, so there’s no direct contact with the other person’s mouth. If you ever find yourself without a barrier, or do not feel able to give breaths, chest compressions alone are still far better than doing nothing.
Ready to start?
Tell us a little about yourself and your plans, and we’ll get back to you with everything you need to know.