First Responder (FR)
Alumni Resources
Congratulations on Completing Your
First Responder
Certification
Below, you will find key information to help you as you move forward with licensing and with your career. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have.
This page has a lot of information , including:
Receiving and accessing your certification.
Scheduling your EMALB licensing exams.
Free practice resources.
Schedule 2 Endorsement Training.
Volunteering and otherwise staying connected with our community.
Scroll down to learn about all of these resources, but first...
…bookmark this page! You’ll need it.
Your FR Certificate
If you have successfully completed your FR training, you should receive an email from the Canadian Red Cross within two business days with instructions on how to create a profile and access your certificate. Keep an eye on your email – including your spam folder – and, if you don’t receive anything in the next few days, let us know.
If you have unpaid course fees, or if any course requirements are incomplete, your certificate will be processed once these are resolved. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Your EMALB First Responder License Examinations
The following information is copied directly from the EMALB website.
Your EMALB practical FR assessments can be conducted at Coast Wilderness Medical Training, or at any EMALB-recognized FR training provider. If you haven’t already done this, contact us to schedule your assessments.
Upon successful completion of your practical assessment, we will submit your results and confirmation of your certificate to the EMALB.
Submit electronically the Application for Licence form to register for your online knowledge and jurisprudence exams.
Select First Responder - Initial License from the drop-down menu.
Submit your certificate by attaching to your application form above or by email to getanexam@gov.bc.ca.*
Obtain a BCeID. Please use only lowercase characters in your BCeID username. (If you already have a BCeID and password you may skip this step).
Please use your BCeID username and password to create a new account in the online learning system (it may take up to 2 weeks to be granted access).
Successfully complete the First Responder written and jurisprudence exams online.
Once your online exams have been successfully completed you should be issued your BC EMA-FR License within a couple of weeks!
*At some point you may be instructed to give your training provider permission to share your certificate with the EMALB. This is not necessary - that permission is implied, as was discussed during your training.
Your Practice Resources
As a licensed pre-hospital medical professional, it is your responsibility to keep your skills sharp after training and licensing are completed. Fortunately, we have a few resources that can help!
Textbooks and Knowledge Resources
Emergency Care for the Professional Responder. This is the Red Cross textbook that most of the course is based on.
Guidelines and Training Protocols. This is the document that you worked out of during your training. It includes EMR scope of practice, but these are marked out separately.
Practice Scenarios. These scenarios cover all levels, from basic skills practice to complex, licensing-style head-scratchers! Download the Red Cross Scenario Book. Download the CWMT Scenario Book.
Knowledge Quiz Practice Question Bank. Coming in Early 2024!
Open Practice Nights
The Vancouver Training Base is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30 PM until about 9:30 PM for open practice. There is always a great mix of people, all of whom are dedicated to getting ready for licensing or just doing a bit of skills refresh, and you are certain to find a like-minded group of people with whom you are comfortable working. There is usually an instructor around for the first hour or two on Wednesday nights. You can sign up for Vancouver practice nights here.
Practice nights in Squamish are organized through a WhatsApp group. You can join the Squamish practice nights group here.
Volunteering
Volunteer as an assistant instructor in an FR classroom, or as a patient in a gnarly WFR extended scenario outdoors! See more about volunteering in Your Alumni Community, below.
Upgrade to EMR
As a certified First Responder, you are eligible to upgrade to EMR with 5 days of training. This short intensive course that will add assessment skills and scope of practice interventions to make you a more effective responder, and qualify you for EMR licensing through the EMALB.
It is recommended that this upgrade be completed within one year - if it has been over a year, or if you do not feel prepared for this intensive upgrade, contact us to receive a discount on a full EMR course.
To register, go to the Upgrade to Emergency Medical Responder, course page, select your dates, and use the code ALUMNI10 to get your 10% alumni discount off the $995 course fee!
Your Schedule 2 Endorsement Training
In September 2022, the Minister of Health approved amendments to the Emergency Medical Assistants Regulation that substantially increase the scope of practice for First Responders and Emergency Medical Responders in BC. Those amendments are not currently included in training programs, nor are they among the skills for which you were tested. However, this is mandatory - if you have not completed the training by September 2024, you could lose your FR license.
Your Alumni Community
When you participate in a training program with Coast, you become a part of our community, and we hope that you won’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have, an feedback you would like to give us, or if there is anything we can do to help you. Some ways to keep in touch include,
Join the Alumni Facebook Group, where you can learn about practice nights, plan your own, or ask the community any general licensing or career questions that you may have.
Follow us on Instagram @medicinthetrees or on Facebook Coast Wilderness Medical Training where we regularly post updates on courses, opportunities to join in on night scenarios, as well as cool articles and neat medical videos.
Volunteer! Our instructors often can use volunteers to help observe student skills, run scenarios, and give a bit of one-to-one instruction if a student is struggling. Many of our alumni have credited these opportunities with their success in licensing. Or, see things from the other side by volunteering as a patient during a Wilderness First Responder evening or overnight scenario!
Become a Volunteer
*Please be generally comfortable and confident in your skills before volunteering in the classroom!
Thanks again, for choosing Coast Wilderness Medical for your First Responder training. We wish you the best of luck in licensing and your career. Please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything at all that I can do for you.
Kieran Hartle,
Coast Wilderness Medical Training.