The Emergency First Response Care for Children course is an innovative CPR, AED and First Aid training course that teaches participants how to provide emergency care for injured or ill children (ages one to eight) and infants less than one year old. Participants learn about the types of medical emergencies that children face, and how they differ from adults. The curriculum also includes the importance of attending to basic emergency situations with children, the emotional aspects of caring for children, secondary care for children, and preventing common injuries and illnesses in children.

The Emergency First Response Care for Children course trains the lay rescuer to follow the same priorities of care used by medical professionals. The student masters the priorities and the procedures of patient care for infants and children in a non-stressful learning environment, which reduces the performance anxieties that interfere with learning and enhances confidence when rendering aid in a real medical emergency.

The course includes both primary care (CPR) and secondary care (first aid) skills. The primary care portion of the course prepares the rescuer to help an infant or child with a life-threatening emergency such as choking or cardiac arrest. Secondary care focuses on developing first aid skills and building the rescuer’s confidence to help an infant or child in need when emergency medical services are either delayed or unavailable. The Care for Children course content is based on guidelines from the Pediatric Working Group of ILCOR.