Prehospital emergency care course: PhEC

The prehospital emergency care (PhEC) course is a three day course covering various aspects of prehospital care, from anaphylaxis to dysrhythmias to trauma management. It is run by the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) and is examined and accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd).

The first course was run in April 1993 and it has been developed and redesigned ever since, with the last major restructuring occurring in 2006. The PhEC course is also becoming an internationally respected course, with BASICS running courses in; Romania, Malta, Greece, Goa and Cyprus. To date, approximately 4000 people have successfully passed the PhEC course.

However, not everyone is successful. In 2009, the PhEC courses attracted 201 candidates with 40 candidates not being successful; this represents a pass rate of 80%. This seems to be fairly typical, as the average pass rate is between 75%-85% with this being fairly consistent across the various professionals undertaking the course.