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QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Incidents with an AED (RQF)
Half a day, for sites with a defibrillator on the wall. Buying the AED was the easy part. Having somebody who will take it off the bracket and use it is the bit that saves the life.
About this course
Survival from an out of hospital cardiac arrest falls sharply for every minute that passes before a shock is delivered. An AED on the wall closes that gap only if somebody nearby is willing to fetch it, switch it on and follow it.
The QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Incidents with an AED is the half day qualification for sites where a defibrillator is installed and staff need a proper understanding of its safe use. It pairs CPR with the device, because the two are one skill rather than two.
AEDs are deliberately built so an untrained person can use one, and the course does not pretend otherwise. What training changes is hesitation: knowing what the pads look like, what the machine will say, what happens if it decides not to shock, what to do about a hairy chest or a pacemaker or a wet floor, and what happens next once the shock is delivered.
It also covers the unglamorous part: pad expiry dates, battery checks, where the device lives, who knows the code, and registering it with the ambulance service so the call handler can send somebody to it.
- The chain of survival, and where an AED actually sits in it
- Recognising cardiac arrest and starting adult CPR
- Fetching, switching on and following an AED
- Pad placement on an adult, and the paediatric option
- What the machine does when it advises no shock, and why that is not a failure
- Safety around the casualty: water, metal, oxygen, medication patches, pacemakers and chest hair
- Continuing CPR between shocks and handing over to the ambulance service
- Maintaining the device: pads, batteries, checks and where it lives
- Registering an AED so the ambulance service can direct a caller to it
How completing this course helps you
- QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Incidents with an AED, valid for three years
- Staff who will use the defibrillator you already paid for
- A maintenance routine that means the pads are in date when it matters
- CPR practised on a manikin within the last three years rather than at some point
Who should attend?
Anyone working somewhere an AED is installed and staff need to understand its safe use: offices, factories, warehouses, gyms and leisure centres, schools, retail, hospitality, sports clubs and community venues. Also useful for community first responders and anybody responsible for a public access defibrillator.
Entry requirements. None. No previous first aid qualification is needed, although it sits very comfortably alongside EFAW or FAW.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Choosing the right one
Which first aid course does your workplace actually need?
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 do not name a course. They tell an employer to carry out a first aid needs assessment and then provide what that assessment says is adequate, which is why two businesses next door to each other can land on different answers.
The rough shape is this. Lower hazard workplaces usually land on Emergency First Aid at Work, one day. Higher hazard workplaces, larger headcounts and anywhere with specific risks usually land on First Aid at Work, three days. Early years settings have their own rules through the Department for Education. Outdoor and remote work adds distance from the ambulance, which changes the answer again.
If you are not sure where you sit, ring us with what your people actually do and we will talk it through. Sending somebody on the wrong course costs more than the phone call.
Do the needs assessment first
Hazards, headcount, shift patterns, lone workers and how far you are from help. The HSE guidance is the starting point and it is short.
Match the course to the answer
EFAW for lower hazard, FAW for higher hazard, plus any specific qualification your setting or your insurer requires.
Plan the three years
Certificates last three years and the HSE recommends an annual refresher in between. Diary it when you book, not when it expires.
Course content
What you will cover
The qualification is structured around the management of health and safety and the practical application of risk assessment.
Cardiac arrest and CPR
- The chain of survival
- Recognising cardiac arrest
- Summoning help and asking for the nearest AED
- When to administer CPR
- Demonstrating adult CPR on a manikin
- Working with a second rescuer
Using an AED
- Preparing the casualty and the scene
- Switching on and following the device
- Pad placement on an adult, and paediatric pads or mode
- Safety considerations: water, metal, oxygen, patches, pacemakers and chest hair
- Delivering a shock safely
- What to do when no shock is advised
- Continuing CPR between analyses
- Handover to the ambulance service
- Care, checks and registration of the device
Method of assessment
How this qualification is assessed
Practical observation across the half day, with a short written assessment to close.
Practical observation
You will be observed carrying out adult CPR on a manikin and using a training AED through a full scenario, including a no shock advised outcome.
Written assessment
A short multiple choice paper covering the chain of survival, the safety considerations and the maintenance of the device.
Certification
Issued by QNUK and valid for three years.
Ways to learn
How you can take this course
Every route covers the same accredited syllabus and the same support. Pick the one that fits how your people work.
Classroom
Tutor-led at one of our centres, with everything provided.
Ask us to open a classroom date →or ask MB nowDates and locations
Arrange this course
There are no scheduled dates for this course at the moment. It is normally arranged around you.
Tell us roughly when you need it and how many people are going, and we will come back with dates and a price.
Also available
In-company training
We run this one to order, at your place or ours.
Onsite / in-company
Run Responding to Incidents with an AED at your site
We deliver anywhere in the UK, on your dates and around your shift patterns. For six or more people it is usually cheaper per head than sending everyone to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling.
Tell us roughly how many people and when, and we will come back with options and a price, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
What onsite includes
- The same tutor, materials and certification as our centres
- Your venue or one we arrange near you
- Dates and start times built around your operation
- One invoice and one point of contact for the whole group
- Content examples drawn from your own workplace
Responding to Incidents with an AED FAQs
No, and that is by design: an AED talks the user through it and will not shock a heart that does not need it, so an untrained bystander should always be encouraged to use one. Training is about removing hesitation and getting the CPR right around the shocks, which is where survival is actually won or lost.
No. Your first aid needs assessment may still call for EFAW or FAW. This half day sits alongside those and is aimed specifically at the defibrillator, which is why sites often put a much wider group of staff through it than just the nominated first aiders.
Yes. Most AEDs have paediatric pads or a paediatric mode, and the course covers both. Where neither is available, adult pads are still used on a child rather than doing nothing.
Yes, and it is one of the more useful parts. Pads expire, batteries run down, and a device nobody has looked at in two years is a decoration. The course covers the check routine, where the device should live, and registering it with the ambulance service so a 999 call handler can send somebody to it.
Three years. The HSE also recommends an annual refresher in between, which is a half day and keeps skills and confidence current rather than letting them fade for three years at a time.
Yes, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people it is normally cheaper per head than sending everybody to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling. We work around your shift patterns.
At our centres in Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Manchester and Liverpool, at your own premises nationwide, and through our partner network where a local option suits you better. Pick a date from the board on this page or call 0330 124 2165.
QNUK, an Ofqual regulated awarding organisation. This one is QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Incidents with an AED (RQF), accreditation number 603/2456/9. We are an approved QNUK centre.
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