What a first aid course teaches
Each unit’s document lists performance criteria, numbered under its elements, and HLTAID009, HLTAID012 and HLTAID014 share a core that includes recognising the emergency, keeping everyone safe, calling emergency services, giving CPR in line with the Australian Resuscitation Council’s guidelines, and dealing with the record, privacy, the rescuers’ wellbeing and the review afterwards.
Each unit has further criteria too, such as operating a defibrillator (HLTAID009, 2.3) and coordinating an evacuation (HLTAID014, 3.4).
- Filed under
- Elements and performance criteria
- Checked
- 8 October 2026
General information, not medical or legal advice. Call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. Each unit’s document on training.gov.au gives its criteria in full.
The common core
| Criterion | HLTAID009 | HLTAID012 | HLTAID014 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recognise and assess the emergency | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Keep yourself, bystanders and the casualty safe | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Get help from emergency services | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Give CPR in line with the ARC guidelines | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1, one or two rescuers |
| Give emergency services accurate details of the incident | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.1 |
| Report or document the incident, as the workplace or site requires | 3.2 | 3.2 | 4.2 |
| Keep the information private and confidential | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Recognise the possible psychological impact on yourself and other rescuers, and seek help | 4.1 | 4.1 | 5.1 |
| Contribute to a review of the first aid response | 4.2 | 4.2 | 5.3 |
The numbers differ because each unit numbers its own elements. HLTAID014 asks for emergency services at 1.5, its 1.4 being sending resources where they are needed, and it files the rescuers’ wellbeing and the review under element 5, where the other two units have them under element 4.
Criteria of each unit
A selection from each unit, in plain words and in the unit’s own numbering. A gap in the numbers is a criterion not listed here, and a criterion listed under one unit may appear in another unit too.
HLTAID009 CPR
- 1.3 Assess the casualty and recognise that CPR is needed.
- 2.2 Treat the casualty with respect.
- 2.3 Operate an automated external defibrillator (AED) as its manufacturer instructs.
HLTAID012 Education and care
Its application names asthma and anaphylaxis emergencies among those it covers.
- 2.4 Get the casualty’s consent where possible.
- 2.5 Make the casualty as comfortable as possible with whatever resources and equipment are available.
- 3.4 Give parents or caregivers the details of incidents involving infants and children.
- 3.5 Report serious incidents to the regulator, following workplace or site procedures.
Getting the casualty’s consent where possible is 2.4 in both HLTAID012 and HLTAID014.
HLTAID014 Advanced first aid
- 1.4 Send resources where they are needed, following workplace or site procedures.
- 2.6 Operate first aid and ancillary equipment as the manufacturers instruct.
- 3.1 Work out what resources are needed and set up communication with the right people, emergency services or medical help.
- 3.3 Monitor casualties’ condition, following first aid principles and workplace or site procedures.
- 3.4 Coordinate the evacuation of casualties under the relevant evacuation procedures.
- 5.2 Arrange support services for the people involved, following the relevant procedures.
Guideline sources
All three units tie their content to published guidelines. HLTAID009 describes CPR in line with the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) guidelines. HLTAID012 and HLTAID014 each describe their first aid response in line with guidelines from the ARC and other national peak clinical bodies. In all three, the CPR criterion itself points to the ARC guidelines.
The guidelines are the ARC’s own, published on its site; its guideline on CPR is one of them.
Each unit’s document, linked at the foot of this page, gives the exact wording of every criterion.
DRSABCD
NSW Health’s cardiac arrest fact sheet says that “Resuscitation using the steps DRSABCD should be followed for cardiac arrest and is taught in all first aid courses in Australia.”
healthdirect describes CPR as a skill that everyone can learn, and one that can save a life. The steps belong with the procedure itself. Follow healthdirect’s page on how to perform CPR, or read the Australian Resuscitation Council’s guideline on CPR.
For which unit a job asks for, see Entry 01; for how often to refresh it, Entry 02.