The British Association for Immediate Care, established in 1977, is a well respected provider of specialist training for those providing emergency medical care and supports the provision of the same through a national network of allied organisations (called immediate care schemes), individuals preparing for and undertaking a role in pre-hospital emergency care. As an internationally recognised specialist training organisation our courses are delivered to an international audience that includes civilian and military medical staff and who are predominantly providing voluntary care, many as part of an organised service including to the majority of the UK's NHS ambulance services.
We also provide support to our affiliated schemes and individual members through networking, advice and a range of grants and bursaries.
The British Association for Immediate Care works in a number of ways. Its primary role is to support the provision of pre-hospital emergency care. This is provided by our affiliated immediate care schemes who, as volunteers, respond as part of the 999 NHS ambulance response. They provide critical care and leadership in instances of sudden illness and trauma.
To support this and the wider work of our members who are also involved in other voluntary and charitable rescue services including helicopter emergency services we provide a range of specialist training courses. These range from introductory courses preparing the attendees to work in the pre-hospital environment, for instance at sports events, stadia, as part of voluntary care teams and within the NHS (out of hours services etc). The Association also provides advanced courses covering critical care for those on the front line and this extends to individuals working in the military as well as in other specialist services as well as many individual members of the Association working within our affiliated schemes. Associated training is also provided covering command roles in major incidents (in line with national standards & our schemes roles at such events) and bespoke training to support specialist needs for a range of working environments including those working in isolated settings etc.
The Association provides an annual conference to support our members' interests and hosts other meetings, increasingly at a digital level, to provide a continuing education and development role. For our individual members we host a number of competitive grants and bursaries awarded on an annual basis.
For our affiliated schemes we provide a resource to support their development and local charitable activities. This includes start-up grants and more recently the provision of an annual grant to support their vehicle and associated requirements.
We collaborate with other partner organisations including professional associations, learned bodies, and Royal Colleges to promote the practice and dissemination of pre-hospital immediate medical care.
