12-week training program
F.A.R.E. 12-Week Program
Know the test
Who needs this test
Alberta Health Services requires the F.A.R.E. for paramedic and EMR hiring across the province, with Lifemark administering it in Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie, and Lethbridge. On the fire side it appears wherever paramedic-first hiring does: Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services requires a F.A.R.E. completed within six months of the posting close for its fire-medic recruitment, and any Alberta candidate building the paramedic credential that departments like Red Deer, Airdrie, and Saskatoon hire on may meet this test on the EMS employment side of that journey. It is the one evaluation in our lineup that is not a firefighter test, and it earns its place because so many firefighter careers in Alberta run through an ambulance first.
Can you do these three things? Then book the test
Before committing to twelve weeks, try the whole test's hard parts today. One: lift 48 kg (105 lb), a loaded crate, duffel, or bar, from the floor to standing, cleanly and under control. Two: kneel on the floor folded forward over your knees, hands working in front of you, for 2 full minutes. Three: 2 minutes of continuous CPR-depth compressions on a firm couch cushion with a metronome app at 110 beats per minute, depth holding through the second minute. If all three are yours fresh, book the test now and skip the training: the F.A.R.E. does not ask for firefighter fitness, it asks for that lift plus walking flats and stairs carrying bags and kit. Your only real risks on the day are administrative: no caffeine or nicotine in the two to three hours before, arrive early and unhurried, and watch your resting numbers, because blood pressure above 159 over 99 or a heart rate above 100 ends the appointment before it starts. If one of the three failed, that gap is exactly what this program closes: set your test date in the app and the plan compresses to your runway, aimed at what missed.
The shape of the appointment
Book roughly two and a quarter hours: about fifteen minutes of paperwork, then testing in groups of four where you are assigned another applicant as your partner. The day opens with a health history review and a cardiovascular screen, then a range-of-motion review, then the functional screen done individually, and finally the timed circuit done with your partner, which is the only partnered part and runs about fifteen minutes. Before anything is scored, the evaluators demonstrate every station and give you the chance to handle the equipment and practice, and that walk-through is worth taking seriously rather than waving off. Two evaluators watch throughout, your heart rate is monitored continuously on a chest strap, and you get your result on the spot: a certificate if successful, and if not, a clear indication of what to work on. The certificate is valid for six months, and an unsuccessful candidate can re-register within six months.
Book with slack: sessions are small and can be rescheduled
Because the circuit needs partners, testing runs in small scheduled groups, and a location typically offers sessions only once or twice a week. If too few booked applicants show up on the day, sick calls and no-shows included, a session may not run at all and you rebook a later date through no fault of your own. Candidates working against a posting deadline, Lethbridge fire's six-month certificate window included, should book with weeks of slack rather than days, so a rescheduled session is an annoyance instead of a missed competition.
The screen that happens before the test
Lifemark's own FAQ states it plainly: if your resting blood pressure is above 159 over 99 or your resting heart rate is above 100 beats per minute before testing, the test does not proceed, and you leave with a letter for your family physician instead of a certificate. Test-day nerves, caffeine, and a rushed arrival all push those numbers the wrong way, which is why Lifemark bans caffeine and nicotine within two to three hours and why this program's taper treats arrival logistics as training. If you know your resting numbers run high, see your physician during the program, not the week of the test; clearance obtained early is a test that happens.
The functional screen, station by station
Four elements, done individually and progressed rather than maximal from the first rep: a crate lift progressed up to 48 kg, a crate front carry progressed up to 48 kg, a bilateral side carry of up to 9 kg in each hand matching the position's physical demands analysis, and kneeling with simultaneous forward trunk flexion held for 2 minutes. The 48 kg crate is the strength ceiling of the whole evaluation and the reason this program keeps two honest lifting days: a candidate who hinges 60 kg for reps meets the crate with margin. The kneeling tolerance is the quiet surprise: two minutes folded forward over your knees is exactly the posture of working a patient on the floor, and unprepared knees and backs complain loudly.
The circuit, event by event
One full circuit, completed within 15 minutes, with your partner: unloading, loading, lifting, pushing, and pulling a stretcher loaded to 95.5 kg, including sliding it into an ambulance-style mount; a bilateral side carry of 9 kg equipment bags over 20 metres plus up and down 10 stairs; 2 minutes of uninterrupted CPR at Canadian Heart and Stroke compression depth and cadence; lifting and carrying a long spine board loaded to 95.5 kg up and down 10 stairs with your partner; and pushing a stair chair loaded to 95.5 kg for 10 metres, then ascending and descending a total of 20 stairs with the partner pushing and pulling the chair. Fifteen minutes is a generous window for the distance covered, so the circuit is less a race than a competence check: smooth lifts, communicated timing with a stranger, and CPR that holds its depth in minute two.
For newcomers, the equipment is the exam
Candidates who have never worked EMS consistently report the same thing: the fitness is the easy half, and the hardware is the hard half. A powered stretcher has handles, releases, and a load sequence that reward knowing them; a stair chair has a technique for holding the handles, lowering the leg rails, and walking it over stairs that feels awkward the first time and obvious the fifth. Watch Lifemark's video on its AHS page until the sequences are familiar, use the pre-test demonstration and practice period on every piece of equipment rather than nodding through it, and if you are in a paramedic program or know someone on car, get your hands on a real stretcher and stair chair once before test day. Strength you have trained for twelve weeks; do not let a handle release be the thing that rattles you.
CPR is the hidden fitness event
Two minutes of uninterrupted compressions to Heart and Stroke standards means roughly 100 to 120 compressions per minute at 5 to 6 centimetres of depth, and the second minute is where untrained triceps and shoulders let depth quietly fade. Evaluators watch depth and cadence, not effort, so this is a trainable event with a number: this program schedules compression endurance work weekly on a firm couch cushion or CPR manikin with a metronome, because the difference between passing CPR and impressive CPR is entirely in whether minute two matches minute one. If you hold a current CPR credential the motor pattern is familiar; the endurance still deserves its reps.
You will work with a stranger
Your circuit partner is another applicant booked into the same appointment, and the stretcher, spine board, and stair chair are all two-person events. The evaluators take your partner's abilities into consideration, and if a partner's struggles significantly affect your assessment they will re-pair you with the next scheduled applicant for the circuit only, so nobody fails because of someone else's day. It cuts the other way too: a candidate moving well may be asked to step back in as somebody else's partner and run the circuit a second time, evaluated only on their own first pass. Train for it anyway: the program's partnered options rehearse counting cadences aloud and matching a lift to someone else's timing, because calm communication under load is being observed even when it is not being scored.
Booking, cost, and the fine print
The test costs 150 dollars, paid by credit card at booking and charged within 24 to 48 hours, and the cancellation policy has teeth because a partner depends on your attendance: free with two full business days of notice, 50 percent inside two business days, and 100 percent inside one business day or for a no-show. Bring photo identification, the completed consent form, waiver, and PAR-Q from Lifemark's site, and wear comfortable clothing with closed-toed shoes, steel-toed boots if you have them, never sandals or heels. Questions go to 1 866 919 5731 or CallCenter@lifemark.ca. Lethbridge fire candidates: your posting wants the certificate dated within six months of the close, so count backwards from the posting before you book.
How hard is this test, honestly
If you currently train, the F.A.R.E. sits well inside your abilities, and this program will feel like insurance plus a strength block rather than a mountain. That framing is deliberate and honest. The candidates who fail are almost always failed by one of four specific things: the 48 kg crate meeting an untrained hinge, the 2-minute kneel meeting knees that never kneel, CPR depth fading in minute two, or the blood pressure screen meeting an anxious, caffeinated morning. All four are addressed by name in this program, and everything else, the carries, the stairs, the stretcher work, comes along naturally with three sessions a week. If you are also preparing for a fire test, run that test's program instead and add this program's CPR and kneeling work in its recovery days; the F.A.R.E. will take care of itself.
Equipment, honestly
Every session is written for a full gym and carries substitutions for two leaner setups: minimal equipment, meaning a loadable backpack or duffel and household objects, and a stairwell-and-vest setup. The F.A.R.E.-specific implements are modest: a crate, box, or duffel loadable to 48 kg for the lift and front carry, two bags or jugs around 9 kg for the side carries, a firm couch cushion or CPR manikin with a free metronome app for compression work, a folded towel for kneeling practice, and any staircase. A partner helps for the stretcher and board rehearsals but is not required: the solo substitutions load the same lifting, bracing, and carrying patterns.
The 12 weeks
Benchmarks
Test yourself every four weeks so peak week holds no surprises.
- Week 4: Crate, kneel, and compression baseline. Three numbers on one day, fresh. First: work up in a crate or duffel lift from the floor to standing in 3 to 5 progressions to a confident single at your current ceiling, stopping at 48 kg (105 lb) if you get there; record the top weight. Second, after 10 minutes of rest: one timed kneeling hold with forward trunk flexion, target 2 minutes; record the time and what complained first. Third: 2 minutes of continuous compressions on a firm cushion with a metronome at 110 beats per minute; record whether depth held in the second minute, judged by a partner or a phone video. These are the three things that actually fail candidates.
- Week 8: Circuit rehearsal. A solo approximation of the test's 15-minute circuit, unhurried: a 40 kg (88 lb) crate lift and 20 m front carry, a 20 m dual 9 kg (20 lb) bag carry plus 10 stairs up and down, 2 minutes of metronome compressions, a 30 m heavy suitcase carry standing in for the board work, and 10 m of backwards drag plus 20 stairs standing in for the stair chair. Time the whole sequence; it should come in far inside 15 minutes with breath to spare. Retest the kneeling hold at the end, tired: 2 minutes should now be routine. Anything that felt close gets the Peak phase's attention.
- Week 12: Taper rehearsal and booking check. A light pass through the week 8 circuit at 85 percent, then close the logistics, because the F.A.R.E.'s sharpest edges are administrative: booking confirmed with Lifemark (150 dollars, charged at booking; cancellation is free only with two full business days of notice), the consent form, waiver, and PAR-Q printed and completed, photo ID packed, closed-toed shoes chosen, and the morning planned caffeine-free with an unhurried arrival, because a resting blood pressure above 159 over 99 or a heart rate above 100 ends the appointment. If your posting is Lethbridge fire, confirm the certificate will be dated within six months of the posting close.
Companion training app
Train and track it in Semparo Strength
Reading the plan is one thing; running it is another. Semparo Strength is our training app, and every fitness program we build lives inside it. The full A/B five-by-five strength program, custom interval and rest timers, and readiness, sleep, and nutrition logging are free for everyone. Every 12-week test program we publish, Fire Test Foundation, Fire Test Foundation + Swim, CPAT, OFAI FPAT, WFX-FIT, University of Alberta Evaluation, York Firefighter Fitness Assessment, Red Deer Polytechnic FPAT, CFFM FPFE, Gledhill Protocol (Halifax), F.A.R.E., and VO2 Max Builder, unlocks with the Fitness unlock or Semparo Pro, with workout-by-workout tracking and the readiness ring. It runs in the browser and installs to a phone home screen in two taps.
