The Delta Dispatch
Straight answers on courses, certificates and emergency skills, written by people who teach this for a living. New posts Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Furnaces, space heaters, fireplaces and candles all come back on in October. The fire and burn risks that come with them, and what this week covers.
Answers: What fire and burn risks come with the start of heating season?
Part 2 of 4: In depth · Oct 21, 2026
In a house fire the smoke usually reaches people before the flames do. What smoke does to the body, how to get out, and the signs that still need a hospital.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answer · Oct 22, 2026
Cool running water, for longer than most people think, and never ice or butter. Why cooling works, what to put on a burn afterwards, and which burns need 911.
Part 4 of 4: Quick save · Oct 24, 2026
A short weekend job: test every smoke alarm, check how old it is, and agree with everyone at home on how you get out and where you meet.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewOct 12, 2026
About 40,000 Canadians have a cardiac arrest outside hospital each year and most do not survive. Why the person nearby matters more than the ambulance.
Part 2 of 4: In depthOct 14, 2026
An AED talks you through every step and decides for itself whether a shock is needed. What happens when you open one, and the situations people worry about.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerOct 15, 2026
At least 5 cm deep, 100 to 120 a minute, and a full release every time. What each number does inside the chest, and why tired rescuers drift off all three.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveOct 17, 2026
A defibrillator only helps if someone knows where it is. A ten-minute weekend job: find the AEDs closest to where you live, work and play, and check them.
Part 1 of 3: OverviewOct 5, 2026
Most of what goes right or wrong at an emergency happens before anyone touches the patient. What the first minute asks of you, and what this week covers.
Part 2 of 3: Clinical answerOct 8, 2026
A person whose heart has stopped often keeps gasping for a while, and it fools people into waiting. How to tell normal breathing from the kind that means CPR.
Part 3 of 3: Quick saveOct 10, 2026
Check, Call, Care is the emergency action framework taught in Canadian first aid. What each step really asks of you, in order, and why the order is the point.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewSep 28, 2026
Two emergencies where the first ten minutes belong to whoever is in the room. What actually helps, and the delays that cost the most.
Part 2 of 4: Clinical answerOct 1, 2026
Last known well is the first question the hospital asks. What happens to brain tissue during the delay, and why the answer decides the treatment.
Part 3 of 4: Quick saveOct 3, 2026
Dispatchers work to a script. Give them the information in the order they need it and the ambulance moves sooner. Here is that order.
Part 4 of 4: In depthOct 7, 2026
The clutch-the-chest picture misses a lot of real heart attacks. What the pattern actually looks like, and who tends to present quietly.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewSep 21, 2026
On a work site, the person with the first aid ticket also runs the scene. That is a separate skill, and this week is about it.
Part 2 of 4: In depthSep 23, 2026
The report you write after an incident protects the patient and you. Here is what belongs in it, and what to leave out.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerSep 24, 2026
Oxygen is not a general-purpose treatment. Here is the reasoning behind reaching for it, and the cases where it changes nothing.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveSep 26, 2026
A short routine for a site response kit that catches the failures you would otherwise discover with a patient in front of you.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewSep 14, 2026
Standard first aid assumes an ambulance is coming soon. Here is what actually changes when the nearest help is a long way off.
Part 2 of 4: In depthSep 16, 2026
Anything can be a splint until it has to work. The test that separates real improvisation from wishful thinking, and how to practise it.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerSep 17, 2026
Cold is rarely the emergency you set out to treat. It is often the one that makes everything else worse. Here is the reasoning, and why you treat it early.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveSep 19, 2026
A rescue starts when someone notices you are late. Ten minutes of writing before you leave decides how long that takes, and where they look.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewSep 7, 2026
Employers ask for first aid in a dozen different phrasings. Here is how to turn a vague requirement into the right booking.
Part 2 of 4: In depthSep 9, 2026
What the phrases in a posting actually mean, who to email when they mean nothing, and why you want the answer in writing before you pay.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerSep 10, 2026
The duty is narrower and heavier than most people expect. What it involves in the first ten minutes, and why it decides which certificate you need.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveSep 12, 2026
Plenty of employers will pay, and most people never ask. What to ask for, when to ask, and the group booking angle almost nobody raises.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewAug 31, 2026
September brings a rush of childcare and babysitting certificate requests. Here is what this week covers, and the age rules that catch people out.
Part 2 of 4: In depthSep 2, 2026
Two courses, two different students, and a job posting that names neither. How to tell which certificate your employer actually wants.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerSep 3, 2026
Most adult cardiac arrests start with the heart. Most in children start with breathing, and nearly every difference in pediatric CPR follows from that.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveSep 5, 2026
A new babysitter needs five minutes of specific information before you walk out. Here is the list, in the order that matters most.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewAug 24, 2026
EMR is a real credential and a common first step, but it is not a paramedic licence in Alberta. Read the caveat before you spend the money.
Part 2 of 4: In depthAug 26, 2026
EMR asks for Intermediate First Aid with CPR-C, current on day one. Here is how to sequence the two courses without losing a month.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerAug 27, 2026
Knowing more conditions does not make you useful. A repeatable assessment does, and here is the reasoning behind the order it runs in.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveAug 29, 2026
From someone who marks the practicals: three things worth practising now that will make your first responder course much easier.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewAug 17, 2026
Most bleeding stops on its own. This week is about the bleeding that will not, and what changes the moment it turns out to be arterial.
Part 2 of 4: In depthAug 19, 2026
Most people press in roughly the right place, too gently, and let go too soon. Here is how direct pressure is done, and what to do when it soaks through.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerAug 20, 2026
The old advice was that a tourniquet costs a limb. Battlefield data changed that. Here is why, and where the tourniquet goes.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveAug 22, 2026
The green box in the cupboard is built for paper cuts. Here is what a kit for serious bleeding contains, and why each item earns its place.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewAug 10, 2026
Choking is the emergency people fear most and practise least. What this week covers, and why twenty minutes of reading is a good trade.
Part 2 of 4: In depthAug 12, 2026
A partly blocked airway and a completely blocked one need opposite responses. How to tell them apart in the first three seconds.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerAug 13, 2026
The pressure mechanism behind back blows and abdominal thrusts, why you alternate them, and why you keep going after the casualty collapses.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveAug 15, 2026
For a choking infant you change one thing, and the reason is anatomical. Back blows first, then chest compressions, and why size changes the technique.
Part 1 of 4: OverviewAug 3, 2026
Recertification is shorter and cheaper than the full course, but only if you catch it in time. Here is how the timing works.
Part 2 of 4: In depthAug 5, 2026
A recert is shorter and cheaper than the full course, but only while your card is current. How the window works, and how to read the dates on your card.
Part 3 of 4: Clinical answerAug 6, 2026
The CPR component often runs on a shorter clock than the certificate that contains it. Why the two differ, and how to tell which one governs you.
Part 4 of 4: Quick saveAug 8, 2026
A two minute job that keeps the cheaper renewal available: set a reminder ninety days before your card expires, and put the right details in it.
Clinical answerJul 30, 2026
The clinical answer is push hard, push fast, and stop for as little as possible. Here is the reasoning, and why the pause is the expensive part.
Part 1 of 3: OverviewJul 20, 2026
The Canadian Red Cross renamed Standard First Aid to Intermediate First Aid in 2025. Your certificate is still valid. Here is what actually changed.
Part 2 of 3: In depthJul 22, 2026
Most people book the wrong level because a job posting was vague. Here is how to read the requirement before you spend money on a course.
Part 3 of 3: Quick saveJul 25, 2026
What to wear, what to bring, what happens on the day, and the one detail people get wrong that delays their certificate.
Everything published on The Delta Dispatch between 2017 and 2025 is kept in the Dispatch archive. Those posts are older, and some describe course names and standards that have changed since, so they are marked as archived and dated rather than mixed in with the writing above.
