What First Aid Covers
A good first aid course is not a lecture on anatomy. It is a set of practical actions for the emergencies you are most likely to meet, practised until you can do them under pressure. Here is exactly what the AHA Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED course covers.
The modules
First aid basics; medical emergencies; injury emergencies; environmental emergencies; preventing illness and injury; and CPR, AED and choking. Every module includes hands-on practice.
Your duties as a first aider, keeping the scene and yourself safe, calling for help, using personal protective equipment, finding the problem, and a simple way to organise your actions.
Breathing problems including asthma and helping someone use an inhaler; choking; allergic reactions and severe allergic reactions, including helping someone use an epinephrine auto-injector; heart attack; fainting; diabetes and low blood sugar; stroke, using a quick recognition check; and seizures.
External bleeding and how to control it with direct pressure, dressings and, when needed, a tourniquet; wounds, internal bleeding and shock; head, neck and spine injuries; broken bones and sprains, including splinting; burns and electrical injuries.
Bites and stings, heat-related illness from cramps to heat stroke, cold emergencies, and poisoning. In the UAE, heat illness is the one our instructors spend most time on.
Adult CPR with compressions and breaths, using an AED, and relieving choking. Child and infant CPR is covered in the pediatric course. If this is the only part you need, the Heartsaver CPR AED course teaches it on its own — see CPR AED vs first aid.
Video demonstrations, then practice on each skill with an instructor coaching you. You demonstrate the skills to receive your card, valid for two years. Book on the first aid course page.
Other life support and first aid courses: BLS Course · ACLS Course · PALS Course · Training calendar
Yes. You learn to recognise a heart attack, call for help and, if the person collapses, start CPR and use an AED.
You learn to help someone use their own epinephrine auto-injector, using a trainer device.
Yes, as part of controlling life-threatening bleeding.
The standard course focuses on adults. The pediatric first aid course covers infants and children.
Largely. Short videos introduce each skill, and most of the time is spent practising.
Safety First Medical Services is an American Heart Association training centre on Al Reem Island. AHA Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED, Pediatric First Aid and CPR AED courses for individuals, with on-site group training for companies, schools and clinics across the UAE.
See first aid dates and register Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED course Company group enquiry
What we teach follows the awarding body and the UAE health authorities. For the definitive position on a course or licensing question, these are the places to check.
Last reviewed by the training team at Safety First Medical Services, an American Heart Association training centre at Addax Office Tower, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi. Call +971 55 761 9841 or email training@safetyfirstmed.ae.