Introduction: Every well-developed health system wants to establish a system of prehospital Emergency Medical System as efficiently as possible. One of the main such as goals of pre-hospital Emergency Medical System is to get to the patient as quickly as possible. Among other things, the new Regulations on the Emergency Medical System in Slovenia determine that the access times of mobile units to the patient must not exceed 15 minutes. However, this is sometimes very difficult to achieve in real situations. It is for this reason that many developed countries supplement this network with certified first responders, which include persons without formal medical education, who do not only perform first aid, but also include basic contents of emergency medical care. They are very well trained and efficient. The second group consists of eyewitnesses - lay people, who are the foundation of the entire system of quick response. Purpose: The aim of the research is to find out, based on examples of good practice from developed countries with advanced systems of prehospital emergency medical assistance and on the basis of research carried out in Slovenia, whether the system of pre-hospital response by first responders, as they are designed today, would be in in case of sudden health problems, can be faster and more successful. Methods: In the research, we used a cross-sectional method with the help of a survey questionnaire. Volunteer firefighters, first responders, and certified first responders received it. We processed the collected data and presented the results descriptively and in tables. Results: Out of 150 survey questionnaires, 133 fully filled-out questionnaires were returned to us. 61 questionnaires were completed by first responders who completed a 10-hour course in lay first aid, and 72 questionnaires were completed by certified first responders who completed a 71-hour course for firefighters medics. Discussion and conclusion: As we expected, it turned out that 10 school hours lessons of in lay first aid are not enough for performing the tasks and duties of a first responder. In their work, they are not only faced with resuscitating and stopping the bleeding but also have to face with the care of patients in many other situations. We also found out that first responders usually need 5 to 9 minutes to reach the patient, which in certain cases is far too much, even too late. That is why in the system of successful assistance, in the framework of the rapid defibrillation program, in Slovenia, we also need lay people who are eyewitnesses, those real first responders who are with the patient who needs them in less than 5 minutes.
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