Basic Life Support (BLS)

Good basic life support (BLS) can mean the difference between survival and death in the event of a person suffering a cardiac arrest. Whether this is in the community or in a hospital setting, the same principles of providing fast, early help apply. As students you are required to complete mandatory training in BLS every year (and this will continue in future health and care settings where you will work), but do we always recognise the importance of this skill? In the video below (from the British Heart Foundation) a man suffers an out of hospital cardiac arrest. His friend quickly recognises this and calls for help, whilst beginning basic life support through early CPR. Soon after the defibrillator arrives with the Ambulance Service, the patient receives early defibrillation from the paramedic and further high quality CPR. All of these steps are  outlined below in the Chain of Survival. These are the simple recognised steps involved in resuscitation which we know improve outcomes from cardiac arrest. The patient goes on to make a full recovery. The video reinforces how BLS truly is a lifesaving skill to have!

Please also see the page on Clinical Skills Repository page on Airway Management for information surrounding airway adjuncts you may see used during resucitation.

PLEASE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH DNACPR AND RESPECT PAGE

Read the illustrated guide to Basic Life Support on ClinicalSkills.net here: 

You will need to be logged into ClinicalSkills.net to use these pages: Go to ClinicalSkills.net, click login at the top, enter your user name and password. You must have set up your account to do this. For further information on how to login to your ClinicalSkills.net account please click here: How to Login to ClinicalSkills.net

Basic Life Support 

The Resuscitation Council (UK) is the United Kingdom body responsible for setting central standards for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and related disciplines, and is a member of the European Resuscitation Council, which in turn is part of the international standards body, the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation or 'ILCOR'. Click onto the button below to see the latest 2021 guidelines published on 5th May 2021. The BLS algorithm can also be viewed in the image below...

Lifesaver is an interactive film, guiding the user through the steps of basic life support, click on the link below to play:

Click on the button below to navigate to the 'Take a Test' area of ClinicalSkills.net. Please make sure you're logged into ClinicalSkills.net already, otherwise you may not be able to open and take the test. Once you have reached the 'Take a Test' area, select 'Standard Tests' and then click on the test called 'Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in adults' to begin. You will need to score 80% or more to pass. Make sure you've read the ClinicalSkills.net procedure thoroughly before taking the test as many of the answers will be found within there!

NPSA alerts - these alerts are sent to all healthcare environments when a risk to patient and staff has been discovered either from incorrect use of/or faulty equipment. policies and procedures

MHRA Medical Device Alerts

www.cas.mhra.gov.uk/ViewandAcknowledgment/ViewAlert.aspx?AlertID=102718  

Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Procedures (9th Edition): Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation- Page 352- 370

ProQuest Ebook Central - Reader 

For Frequently Asked Questions about cardiac arrest, basic life support ,and use of AEDs you might find the following link to the Resuscitation Council UK useful:

Resuscitation Council UK - Basic Life Support FAQs 

Date reviewed: 

Next review: August 2023