Start with first aid. Build toward response.

Intermediate First Aid

Two days, or one day in the classroom if you did the online half first. Day one is assessment and CPR until they are automatic; day two moves through injuries and illnesses and ends in scenarios where you are handed a patient rather than a topic. Expect to be on your knees for a good deal of it.

What you practise

• CPR and AED across adult, child and infant
• Primary and secondary assessment you can repeat under pressure
• Airway obstruction on all three age groups
• Wound care, bandaging, and a bleed that will not stop

What to expect

• Two days in the room, or one if you do the online half first. The blended option is real home study: expect to finish the online part before you arrive, not on the morning.
• You will be on your knees for a good deal of it. CPR, assessment and scenarios are practised until they are automatic, not read about.
• No previous experience is needed. This is where most people start, and it is the certificate the EMR course asks you to already hold.

What it is commonly used for

On its own this is the certificate most Alberta employers mean when they say get your first aid, so it is rarely wasted even if the responder route stops here.

This is the one most Alberta employers mean when they say get your first aid. It is also the level many PCP and paramedic programs list on their admission pages, but confirm yours directly: schools change requirements without announcing it.

First Responder

Multi-day and heavily practical. Scenario-based throughout, with the emphasis on making decisions in a room rather than reciting a sequence.

What you practise

• Patient assessment on medical and trauma patients
• Airway management and oxygen therapy
• Bag-valve-mask ventilation
• Spinal motion restriction and patient packaging

What to expect

• A multi-day course, practical throughout, with the emphasis on making decisions in a room rather than reciting a sequence.
• Assessment is continuous. You are watched working a patient, not marked on a single test at the end.
• It sits beside Advanced First Aid rather than below it: the two overlap heavily in skill but are named differently by employers, and they are not interchangeable on paper.

What it is commonly used for

Some workplace and community responder roles name First Responder specifically. Where an employer names Advanced First Aid instead, the bridge is the shortest way across.

First Responder is named in some fire and public-safety postings and in some industrial ones. Which of FR and AFA a given employer wants varies, and they are not interchangeable on paper even where the skills overlap, so read the posting carefully.

Advanced First Aid

A multi-week cohort, taught in evenings or in blocks. Far more scenario work than lecture: you are handed a patient and expected to make decisions under time pressure, then debriefed on what you did and why. Assessment is continuous rather than one exam at the end.

What you practise

• Full patient assessment, primary and secondary, to a repeatable system
• Airway management including OPA, NPA and suction
• Oxygen therapy: cylinders, regulators, delivery devices, and choosing between them
• Bag-valve-mask ventilation as a two-person skill

What to expect

• Eighty hours over a multi-week cohort, taught in evenings or in blocks. Plan around it the way you would a college course, because that is the commitment.
• Far more scenario than lecture. You are handed a patient, expected to decide under time pressure, then debriefed on what you did and why.
• There is no prerequisite, but people who arrive holding Intermediate First Aid find the first weeks easier.

What it is commonly used for

This is the level industrial, oilfield, mine and construction sites most often name for a site medic, so it is a working certificate in its own right, not only a step toward something else.

This is the level industrial, oilfield, mine and construction sites most often name for a site medic. Wording varies a great deal between contracts, so send us the exact requirement and we will read it with you before you book.

Emergency Medical Responder

The longest course we teach: roughly eighty classroom hours across a multi-week cohort, with online pre-reading before you arrive. Heavy on scenarios and repetition. You are assessed practically throughout, and the standard is closer to a professional exam than to a workplace course.

What you practise

• Anatomy and physiology to the depth the assessment actually requires
• Patient assessment run as a system, on medical and trauma patients
• Airway management, oxygen therapy and assisted ventilation
• Circulatory emergencies, shock recognition and management

What to expect

• The longest course we teach: roughly eighty to a hundred classroom hours across a multi-week cohort, with online pre-reading before you arrive.
• You must already hold a current Intermediate First Aid with CPR-C to start. That is a program prerequisite, not a preference.
• The standard is closer to a professional exam than to a workplace course. Practical assessment runs throughout.

What it is commonly used for

Most students here are heading for public-safety or pre-hospital roles, or toward PCP school. Many hold it for industrial and remote-site work in the meantime, where acceptance depends on the employer and the province.

A caveat we put on every page that mentions EMR: the Alberta College of Paramedics does not list Delta as an approved EMR program. A Red Cross EMR certificate is not College registration and does not give you a practice permit in Alberta. It may meet selected PCP-school admission requirements, so verify your exact school and intake before you spend the money.

This is a Canadian Red Cross EMR course, a nationally recognized certification. It is NOT an Alberta College of Paramedics–approved EMR program, and does not by itself make you eligible for College registration or a practice permit in Alberta. It is widely used for employment in industrial and remote-site settings (acceptance depends on your employer and province), it may meet selected PCP-school admission requirements, and it can be a starting point for other provinces' EMR licensing, see the BC (EMALB) section on this page. Verify your exact school, employer, or licensing body before registering.

Advanced First Aid to EMR Bridge

Deliberately narrow. It does not re-teach what you already proved in AFA, it targets the gap. Multi-day, scenario-heavy, and it assumes you arrive fluent in the AFA material.

What you practise

• Only the material EMR adds on top of Advanced First Aid
• The additional pharmacology, and the Alberta scope around it
• The assessment depth EMR expects beyond AFA
• The skill sheets in the EMR curriculum that are not in AFA

What to expect

• Deliberately narrow: only the material EMR adds on top of Advanced First Aid, over two long days.
• It assumes you arrive fluent in the AFA material and that your AFA is current. An expired AFA usually means the full EMR course instead.

What it is commonly used for

Check your Advanced First Aid is still current before you book. The bridge assumes it is, and an expired AFA usually means the full EMR instead.

This bridge leads to a Canadian Red Cross EMR certificate. It is NOT an Alberta College of Paramedics–approved EMR program and does not by itself make you eligible for College registration or a practice permit. Verify any school or employer requirement before registering.

EMR to Advanced First Aid Bridge

Short and targeted, the mirror of the AFA-to-EMR bridge. It exists for people whose work has moved from a pre-hospital setting to an industrial one.

What you practise

• The Advanced First Aid material sitting outside the EMR curriculum
• Workplace-oriented assessment and documentation
• Anything the AFA standard covers that EMR does not

What to expect

• One day. It exists for people whose work has moved from a pre-hospital setting to an industrial one where the contract names Advanced First Aid.

What it is commonly used for

Some industrial contracts specify Advanced First Aid by name and will not accept EMR in its place, even though EMR is the longer course. Where a contract does that, this bridge is the shortest route to the words they want.

This bridge issues a Canadian Red Cross Advanced First Aid certificate. It does not change the status of your EMR certificate. The Canadian Red Cross EMR program is NOT an Alberta College of Paramedics–approved program and does not by itself make you eligible for College registration or a practice permit. Advanced First Aid is an advanced first aid credential, not a licence to practise.

First Responder to EMR Bridge

What to expect

• Forty hours, targeted at the gap between First Responder and EMR.

This bridge leads to a Canadian Red Cross EMR certificate. It is NOT an Alberta College of Paramedics-approved EMR program and does not by itself make you eligible for College registration or a practice permit. Verify any school or employer requirement before registering.

First Responder Recertification

What to expect

• Three days. You are there to prove the skills, not learn them, so it moves fast.

Advanced First Aid Recertification

About forty-two and a half hours, compressed. It assumes you arrive holding the skills and is built around proving them rather than teaching them from scratch, so there is more scenario time and less instruction.

What you practise

• The full Advanced First Aid skill set, re-tested
• Airway, oxygen and bag-valve-mask back to standard
• Assessment and scenario work at speed
• Anything the current Red Cross standard has changed since you last certified

What to expect

• About forty hours over five days, compressed, and built around proving the skills rather than teaching them from scratch.
• Your certificate has to still be current or only recently expired. Once it lapses further, the recert is usually off the table and it is the full course again.

What it is commonly used for

Your certificate has to still be current to recertify. Once it lapses the recert is usually off the table and it is the full course again, which is why the reminders start six months out.

EMR Recertification

What to expect

• About forty hours. Same rule as every recert: renew while the certificate is current, because a lapsed one usually means the full course.

This renews a Canadian Red Cross EMR certificate. It is NOT an Alberta College of Paramedics–approved EMR program and does not by itself make you eligible for College registration or a practice permit. Verify any school or employer requirement before registering.

Professional Responder Skills Refresher

What to expect

• One day of practice for people who already hold a responder certificate, from anywhere. It is Delta's own day, not a Red Cross program, and it does not issue or renew a certificate.

This is Delta's own course. It is not a Canadian Red Cross program, it does not issue or renew a Red Cross certificate, and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or required by any fire service, employer or regulator. It is skills practice. It cannot guarantee any recruit testing result.