Fylde Coast Resuscitation Services.....

Main changes....

There are two main underlying themes in the BLS section of CoSTR: the need to increase the number of chest compressions given to a victim of cardiac arrest,and the importance of simplifying guidelines to aid acquisition and retention of BLS skills, particularly for laypersons.

1) Make a diagnosis of cardiac arrest if a victim is unresponsive and not breathing normally.

2)Place your hands in the centre of the chest, rather than to spend more time using the ‘rib margin’ method.

3) Give each rescue breath over 1 sec rather than 2 sec.

4) Use a ratio of compressions to ventilations of 30:2 for all adult victims of sudden cardiac arrest at a depth of 5-6 cm. at a rate of 100-120 beats per minute.

5) Use this same ratio for children when attended by a lay rescuer, but the depth of compression should be at least 1/3rd the depth of the chest, (approx 4-5cm).

5) For an adult victim, omit the initial 2 rescue breaths and give 30 compressions immediately after cardiac arrest is established.

6) If the rescuer has no airway adjuncts, consider compression only CPR in sudden cardiac arrest

The Term 'First Responder'

First Responder: A person, trained as a minimum in basic life support and the use of a defibrillator, who attends a potentially life-threatening emergency. This response may be by the statutory ambulance service or complementary to it.

Examples of first responders include "co-responders" (police or fire service), members of staff of a shopping mall or other public place, members of a first aid organisation, lifeguards, community first responders (see below), and others who have been trained to act in this capacity. Members of the statutory ambulance services may also act as first responders.

A Community First Responder is a first responder, usually (but not exclusively) a lay person, who makes himself or herself available to be dispatched by the ambulance control to attend an incident.

Public Access Defibrillation: Use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) that is made available to members of the local workforce or members of the public or both.