PHECC Responder Level Digital Certification
The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), the statutory regulator for pre-hospital care delivery and education, sets standards for education and operation of training institutions delivering PHECC approved training courses at responder level, including Cardiac First Response (CFR) and First Aid Response (FAR). The FAR course is the recognised training course for compliance with Health & Safety legislation for first aid provision.
The traditional method of hardcopy certification is now changed to digital certification.
When does it come into effect?
As of 1st March 2025, the only valid certificate for a PHECC approved Responder level course is a Digital Certificate.
Any paper certificate that is issued and dated from the 1st of March is invalid.
Why go digital?
- A digital certificate is portable and easy to share
- Security of certification issue is improved as only designated persons from PHECC approved training institutions can upload details into the certificate portal and issue certificates
- PHECC has visibility of certification activity and can verify validity of certification in real time
- Students can upload their digital certificates to their digital wallet and they can provide verifiable evidence of their award in real-time.
- Digital certification provides an extra layer of security to protect against fraud.
- Digital certificates can be verified in one-click from the live credential page, providing peace of mind for Responder level award holders.
- The student can also download and print a physical certificate which can then be easily verified by scanning the QR-code with a smartphone. The QR code links to the live credential page to verify the award.
Provision of first aid response training to comply with Health & Safety Legislation must only be delivered by PHECC Recognised and Approved Training Institutions. Currently approved providers are listed on the PHECC website here
How does the student receive the Certificate?
Students will be sent an email (sample below) from phecc-certs@gripcomms.com
How can the new Digital Certificate be validated?
To check the authentication of the Certificate, open the camera app on your phone. It will automatically recognise the code and show an on-screen prompt directing you to the live Digital Certificate.
Please find a sample digital certificate that can be used to demonstrate the verification process.
Note the URL https://phecc-certs.gripcomms.com/phecc-certs/ If the certificate is NOT linked to this URL it is NOT a valid certificate.
The QR code in the image above can also be used for verification.
Further information
If further information or clarification is required, please contact digitalcerts@phecc.ie