Scuba courses
EFR Course

What do you do when you are on a scuba dive and one of your companions suffers a heart attack, or is involved in a dive accident and ends up bleeding profusely?  By knowing and applying some basic first aid skills when something happens while scuba diving, you can potentially save someone’s life.

The EFR (Emergency First Response) teaches you the basics in First Aid. Although this is not exclusively for scuba diving it will however be of immense value to any diver who wants to be able to react appropriately to emergencies that may arise while scuba diving. It is essential for the scuba diver that wants to take the next step in obtaining his Rescue Diver Certification.

Quick overview of our First Aid Course in Cape Town

• Duration: 4 hours
• Can be done during day or after hours
• Learn vital first aid concepts
• Learn how to use first aid equipment
• Become a registered first aid provider

We combine independent study and practical skills training to afford you with the necessary proficiency to attend to someone in distress.

Tuition takes place in our classroom in Cape Town, and can be done during the day, or in the evening. Expect it to take about 4 hours.

You will learn the following skills:

Primary First Aid:

1. Scene Safety Assessment
2. Universal Precautions - Communicable Disease Protection, including barrier use
3. How to do a Primary Assessment
4. Rescue Breathing & Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
5. Conscious and Unconscious Care
6. Obstructed Airway Management
7. Serious Bleeding Management
8. Shock Management
9. Spinal Injury Management
10. Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training
11. Emergency Oxygen Use Orientation.

Secondary First Aid:

1. Injury Assessment
2. Illness Assessment
3. Bandaging
4. Splinting for Dislocations and Fractures

1. What do we do in the classroom?
   We start the session with a DVD, which explains the different skills, and runs through a few scenarios. We try to make this as practical as possible and relate it to things that could happen while you scuba dive.  After this, we do the practical part. We have a CPR doll on which we practice, and we also practice some of the skills on participants.

2. Is the EFR course only for scuba divers?
   No! The EFR course is recognized as a basic First Aid Course, and is valuable to both divers and non-divers.

3. How practical is the course?
   You get to practise each of the skills physically until you get it right. In terms of application in the real world, you never know when you might the skills that you learn in this course.

4. Will I have to work with blood?
   
   No, there is no real blood. We do however practise putting gloves on and taking them off without getting blood on your hands – in this scenario we use tomato sauce to simulate blood.

5. How fit do I need to be?
   
   Not fit at all.
6. Should I do refresher courses from time to time?
   
   You should do a refresher course every 2 years to keep your skills sharp, and to stay updated on the newest medical methods, technologies, and theories.