Would you know what to do in a life-threatening emergency?

The skills of emergency life support (ELS) are simple and can save lives. Emergency life support is the set of actions needed to keep someone alive until professional help arrives. They include performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with choking, serious bleeding and helping someone that may be having a heart attack.

Over 1.4 million people have been trained through the Heartstart UK initiative.

Heartstart UK is an initiative co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation to teach members of the public what to do in a life-threatening emergency: simple skills that can save lives.

It provides opportunities for people to learn the vital skills of emergency life support. Through Heartstart UK the BHF aims to strengthen the chain of survival by promoting and supporting emergency life support training in the community.

The benefit of CPR performed by a bystander in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is significant.The most important factor determining survival after a cardiac arrest is the time from collapse of the casualty to defibrillation - performing CPR buys time and more than doubles the chances of survival. Through Heartstart UK the BHF aims to make training more widely available.

Heartstart can be taught at detachment level as well as on company weekends and passes cadets for their one star first aid.

For more information speak to the County First aid officer, Cpt T Tomlinson.