Heartstart training
Would you know what to do in a
life-threatening emergency? Learning Emergency Life Support (ELS)
skills can help you keep someone alive until professional help
arrives.
Our Heartstart initiative teaches people what to do in a
life-threatening emergency – simple skills that save lives.
Find your
local Heartstart CPR trainer
*choose 'Heartstart' from the drop down menu
About
Heartstart schemes
Help run a
Heartstart scheme
Heartstart
in your community
Heartstart in
schools
About Heartstart schemes
Heartstart schemes are run by people like you. They’re
independent of the BHF and provide free ELS training in the
community and schools. They are aimed at the public, and
anyone from the age of ten upwards can attend and
learn the complete range of ELS skills. To date
2.6 million people have been trained through
Heartstart.
The Heartstart programme includes skills such as:
- assessing an unconscious
patient,
- performing cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR),
- dealing with choking,
- serious bleeding,
- helping someone that may be having a
heart attack.
Knowing what to do when someone has a
cardiac arrest is important. If you
can do CPR you 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 their chance of survival.
The Heartstart course is designed the course to follow the
current Resuscitation
Council (UK) guidelines. The course lasts for two hours and
provides practical hands-on learning.
Heartstart in your community
We work in
partnership with many organisations and institutions such as local
volunteer groups and the ambulance service to establish local
community schemes.
Many of these schemes run courses that are open to the general
public in their local communities. Others teach specific groups,
such as employees in large companies, or army cadets and other
youth groups, while some focus on heart patients and their
families.
Heartstart in your school
Young people(10+) can attend a Heartstart 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 as a stand alone course for children
of 10 and over or as a staged programme starting with children
aged 4 or 5.
We're also campaigning to get ELS into
the curriculum and into local communities.
Get trained near you
To find a heartstart scheme, head to our
map and choose 'Heartstart CPR training' from the Services drop
down menu. Alternatively you can get trained by the following
organisations:
Help run a Heartstart scheme
To find out about becoming involved with a scheme in your area,
or establishing a scheme, contact us:
In England, Wales and Northern
Ireland
Tel: 0300 330 3311 Heart Helpline (local rate
number)
Email: hearthelpline@bhf.org.uk
In Scotland
Tel: 0131 554 6953
Email: heartstart-edin@bhf.org.uk
