Medical Emergency Situations

Lifesaver

A cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops pumping blood around the body. If someone has suddenly collapsed, is not breathing normally and is unresponsive, they are in cardiac arrest.

It is the ultimate medical emergency with no time to lose. Even if you are untrained, your actions can help the person survive.

CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The term embraces all the procedures, from basic first aid to the most advanced medical interventions, that can be used to restore the breathing and circulation in someone whose heart and breathing have stopped.

For lay people and first aiders, CPR refers to the basic first aid procedures that you can carry out to keep someone alive until the emergency medical services can get to the scene. The most important skills are chest compressions to pump blood around the body and rescue breaths to provide oxygen.

The Resuscitation Council UK has created an interactive resource 'Lifesaver' which takes you through different medical emergency scenarios.

This resource has been updated by the Resuscitation Council UK and is available via Resources only. There are four different scenarios but we suggest that you review the ‘Jake’ scenario.