Heartstart
Emergency Life
Support Training
Would you know what to do in a life-threatening emergency?
Learning emergency life support skills
(ELS) can help you to keep someone alive until professional
help arrives. The BHF can help you to learn these skills through
the Heartstart initiative.
The Heartstart programme includes
skills such as:
- assessing an unconcious patient,
- performing cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR),
- dealing with choking,
- serious bleeding
- helping someone that maybe having a
heart
attack.
Over 2.3 million people
have been trained through the Heartstart initiative.
Heartstart is an
initiative co-ordinated by the BHF to teach you
the simple skills needed in a life-threatening emergency and could
help you to save the life of someone you love.The scheme offers you
practical advice and encourages you to talk about resuscitation and
saving lives.
Knowing what to do when someone has a
cardiac arrest is
important. If you can do CPRyou can buy the time needed for
professional help to arrive and save the life of your loved one.
Being able to do CPR more than doubles the chances
of survival.
Through Heartstart the BHF aims to
make training more widely available and increase the number of
people in your community that are able to help save a life.
Heartstart in the community
Our Heartstart courses:
- last for two hours
- provide you with very practical hands
on learning
- are free.
Heartstart community schemes are groups that provide the
training for the public. The initiative works in partnership with
organisations such as local volunteer groups, the ambulance
service and other organisations to establish local
community schemes.
Many of these schemes run Heartstart courses that are open
to the public. Others teach specific groups like employees and
heart patients. The course lasts for two hours and
provides very practical ‘hands-on’ learning.
Heartstart in schools
Young people of ten years and over can attend a
Heartstart course. Young people of 10 years
and over can attendthe course.However, some ELS skills like making
a 999 call or placing someone in the recovery position
can be learnt by much younger children.
The course can be delivered in two ways:
- as a stand alone course for children of 10 and over
- as a staged programme starting with children 4 or 5 years
of age.
Are you interested in attending a course?
You can find details of schemes offering free ELS training
by searching on our
In Your Area
section.
Are you interested in becoming involved in a
scheme?
To find out information about becoming involved with a scheme in
your area, or establishing a scheme, contact either:
Our London office:
Tel: 0300 330 3311 Heart Helpline (local rate
number)
e-mail: hearthelpline.bhf.org.uk
Our Edinburgh office:
Tel: 0131 554 6953
e-mail: heartstart-edin@bhf.org.uk