First Responder Program
.jpg)
Calling aspiring doctors, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, paramedics, police officers, and firefighters: Earn the skills you need for your career in health or emergency services this summer!
Offered in two levels, the First Responder Program is to foster an understanding and appreciation of the first responder community, the agencies that work within it, and gain critical skills needed for careers in health and emergency services.
This program runs adjacent to the FSD Summer School and is facilitated in person at École Secondaire Foothills Composite High School | Alberta High School of Fine Arts in Okotoks, AB.
FIRST RESPONDER PROGRAM: LEVEL 1
July 6 to July 28, 2026
Monday & Wednesday
9:00am to 2:30pm
- Introduces students to the first responder community and pre-hospital health care roles
- Builds life-saving skills to manage emergencies, injuries, and sudden illness
- Suitable for aspiring first responders and students pursuing health-related careers
- Focuses on advanced first aid, AED use, airway and oxygen therapy, and trauma care
- Develops critical thinking, teamwork, and emergency response skills
- Explores mental health impacts, stress management, and responder support systems
- Includes hands-on simulations such as multi-casualty incidents, search and rescue, and entrapment scenarios
- 10 single credit modules
FIRST RESPONDER PROGRAM: LEVEL 2
July 7 to July 29, 2026
Tuesday & Thursday
9:00am to 2:30pm
- For students who successfully completed First Responder Level 1 and are ready for advanced training and service-focused learning
- Builds higher-level emergency medical skills and explores careers in first response and medical sciences
- Provides continued mentorship from First Responder Agency professionals and emphasizes responder and public safety
- Examines stress, mental health impacts, and critical incident stress management supports
- Includes hands-on, industry-standard simulations (multi-casualty, confined space, entrapment scenarios) and BLS CPR certification
- 8 single credit modules
 |  |  |  |  |  |
Certifications available upon successful completion of both levels:
- Standard First Aid – Level C with CPR & AED
- Airway Management
- Oxygen Therapy
- BLS CPR
Ideal for students exploring careers in:
- First Responder (Paramedics/EMS, Fire, Police)
- Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Respiratory Therapy
- Medicine, Nursing
& more!
Students will have access to and support from First Responder Agency Professionals. This course will focus in particular on dealing with more advanced first aid concepts and training on the use of AED’s as well as how to deal with traumatic type injury care and specialized life-saving emergency measures.
The First Responder Program Levels 1 and 2 will introduce orientation drills and basic search and rescue tactics and develop tactical and critical thinking skills and rational thinking to deal with emergencies. This program focusses on dealing with more advanced first aid concepts and training on the use of AED’s as well as airway adjuncts and oxygen therapy treatment and the team approach to patient care in first responder roles. Students learn how to deal with traumatic type injury care and specialized life-saving emergency measures to use wound packing and tourniquets to “Stop The Bleed – Save A Life Trauma Care Response.”
Students will explore and develop an understanding of the complexities of stress and the effect that these stress filled career choices can have on a first responders’ mental health. Students will build an understanding of the impact that critical incident stress management can have to minimize the impact of these environments and the supporting agencies that are exist to help first responders. This course includes a variety of hands-on activities such as learning to deal with multiple casualty incidents, confined spaces and entrapment exercises to simulate a fire fighter escape during building collapse scenario, and other industry standard and practical experiential learning opportunities, and includes certification for BLS CPR in Level 2
Registration
Students from all school boards may enroll in FSD Summer School and earn credits toward their graduation. Full registration details are at Register for FSD Summer School
Contact
With Generous Resource Donations From the Following Organizations
