Courses by Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council
The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) is an independent statutory organisation. They are the regulator for emergency medical services (EMS) in Ireland.
Duties and responsibilities
- Implementing, monitoring and further developing the standards of care provided by all ambulance services in Ireland
- Conducting examinations at six levels of pre-hospital care
- The control of ambulance practitioner registration
- The publication of clinical practice guidelines
- Maintaining a statutory register of EMS practitioners
PHECC sets the standards for education and training for pre-hospital emergency care in Ireland. The Council publishes clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and recognise institutions to provide pre-hospital emergency care training and education.
In addition, the Council approve pre-hospital emergency care service providers to implement clinical practice guidelines.
Levels of Care
There are six levels of care set down by PHECC. There are three Responder levels and three Practitioner levels.
Responder levels of care provide basic medical training to lay people. This includes non-medical emergency services personnel, sports club staff and those designated to provide first aid at work.
In addition to this, voluntary ambulance services such as Civil Defence, Order of Malta Ambulance Corps, Irish Red Cross and the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland depend on responder training to allow their members provide on-site first aid at the various events they cover.
Practitioners must register annually with PHECC to practice their skills. Upon qualification and registration, a practitioner receives a licence and unique PIN. The practitioner enters their PIN on Patient Care Report forms. This is done for both reference purposes, record-keeping and proof of continuous professional development.
CPG Approved Service Providers
All organisations and companies who provide an ambulance service in any capacity must register with PHECC as a CPG Approved Service Provider. They must also to work to the current edition of Clinical Practice Guidelines published by PHECC.