Pre-Hospital Care and First Aid.

Pre-Hospital Care and EFAW Qualification Policy.

Updated March 2025.

The document version of this policy can be downloaded here.

Introduction

This policy provides information relating to BASRaT’s requirement for registrants to obtain and maintain a pre-hospital care qualification or Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) certificate. The requirements for first time registrants and registration renewal are outlined below. 

Please note that following the post Covid-19 pandemic period where online courses were accepted, we are returning to the position of in-person courses being required in order to meet the minimum requirements. The timeline for implementation of this change is outlined at the end of the document.

Recognised qualifications

Recognised pre-hospital care qualifications. 

  1. Those with an endorsement from The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care. A list is provided on the faculty website here.

  2. Those with endorsement from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (for example: The UEFA Football Doctors Education Programme (FDEP) Pre-Hospital Trauma Workshop (Level 4 course) information available here).

  3. Those courses named in the BASEM Cross Recognition of Emergency Care Courses in Sport statement.

Other courses without this accreditation, even if considered as equivalent, are not acceptable.

Recognised First Aid qualifications 

The standard required for registration is Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW). 

EFAW is a 1-day (6 hour) training course that is designed to provide first aiders with the knowledge and skills they need to respond effectively to emergency situations in the workplace. An EFAW course is valid for 3 years

We recognise that many registrants working in the National Health Service (NHS), Ministry of Defence (MoD) and other large organisations complete yearly mandatory First Aid training “in-house”. Such training will be accepted for the purposes of registration renewal where evidence of completion can be provided. 

Accessing the qualifications

Students studying on BASRaT accredited degree programmes should be offered the opportunity to complete a recognised pre-hospital care qualification during the course of their studies, as per the BASRaT Educational Framework.

Graduate Registrants needing to complete or renew their pre-hospital care qualification are required to make their own arrangements for this (where not provided by an employer). The list of courses on the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care website provides links to the training providers where courses can be booked.

For Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) there are four types of provider: 

  • Regulated qualifications from an awarding organisation (AO) – these are recognised and regulated by Ofqual, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) or the Welsh Government. Example course from First Aid for Life. 

  • Voluntary approval schemes, such as a trade body accredited by a third party – the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the national accreditation body recognised by the government.

  • Independent training where the provider can prove their competence. 

  • Training from one of the three Voluntary Aid Societies recognised by the government:

Registration Requirements

First time registration.

Applicants for registration must have completed a recognised pre-hospital care qualification in order to be eligible for registration. 

If the pre-hospital care qualification has been completed but since lapsed, evidence of completion should still be provided. The applicant must hold an appropriate and in-date Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) as a minimum standard in order to be registered. 

Registration renewal. 

Applicants renewing registration are recommended to have a valid (in date) pre-hospital care care qualification if they are working in a pitch-side role or any other job role where there is a likelihood of trauma care/pre-hospital care being required.  Where a particular course is required by a governing body for work in sport (e.g. RFU) registrants are expected to be compliant with those requirements. 

Where this is not the case, the minimum standard to maintain registration is an Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course. This must be a 1-day (6 hour) in-person course delivered by a recognised EFAW training provider. 

We recognise that many registrants working in the National Health Service (NHS), Ministry of Defence (MoD) and other large organisations complete yearly mandatory First Aid training “in-house”. Such training will be accepted for the purposes of registration renewal where evidence of completion can be provided. 

It is the responsibility of registrants to determine and maintain the appropriate level of qualification for their occupational role. 

Applicants for first-time registration without a recognised qualification

Applicants applying for registration who do not have a recognised qualification will be required to complete one in order to be eligible. 

Students who have not been offered the opportunity to complete a recognised qualification during the course of their studies should liaise with their university to make arrangements for completing a qualification.

Students who have been offered the opportunity to complete a recognised qualification but have not been successful in obtaining one will be required to make their own arrangements for the completion of a recognised qualification.

BASRaT can provide temporary registration if applicants can demonstrate that they meet the remaining registration requirements and hold a valid Emergency First Aid at Work certificate. Failure to complete an recognised pre-hospital care qualification within an agreed timeframe will result in the removal of temporary registration. 

BASRaT will operate a no-refund policy as per our terms and conditions of registration.

Readmission of registrants who first joined the register before 2017

The requirement for registrants to have completed a recognised pre-hospital care qualification was first introduced in 2017. Prior to this, the requirement was for an Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) qualification. Therefore, applicants who first joined the register before 2017 will not be expected to have completed this qualification in order to be readmitted to the register.

Applicants will be required to comply with the current requirements for renewal of registration outlined above. 

Applications for readmission to the register will be processed in accordance with the Readmission to the Register Policy. Applicants must meet all remaining registration criteria and pass the BASRaT Registration Exam where required.

More information

If you require any more information, have questions, or would like to contact us about this policy, please contact the BASRaT office via administration@basrat.org or 0330 1332 123.

Implementation of the updated standards from March 2025 onwards. 

In this updated policy the exact type of First Aid course in the minimum standard is more clearly specified than it has been previously, recognising that there has been some variation in the courses undertaken by registrants in recent years. This is particularly true of those needing to undertake / renew qualifications during the Covid-19 pandemic which brought about restrictions. 

This updated policy will be implemented and enforced as follows: 

  1. From now (March 2025) BASRaT will recommend to all registrants renewing or obtaining a course that they should complete 1-day (6 hour) Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course, in person, 

  2. From 1st February 2026 EFAW will be required as the minimum standard for those obtaining or updating their qualification.  

  3. Registrants will be required to have an in-date EFAW as a minimum standard in order to renew their registration expiring 31st January 2027.