BLS

Advantages of AHA BLS:

Content that represents the latest scientific advances in resuscitation to improve patient outcomes

Real situations, simulations and animations showing rescuers, equipment and the patient

Flexible course and content for AHA instructors and students, including adaptation to local protocols.

Basic life support (BLS) or basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a level of care indicated for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, applied until the patient receives complete medical care.

It can be given by trained medical personnel, including emergency medical technicians, and by people who have received BLS training. BLS is typically used in pre-hospital emergency situations and can be provided without medical equipment.

Many countries have guidelines on how to provide basic life support that are formulated by medical professional bodies in those countries. The guidelines describe algorithms for addressing a range of disorders, including cardiorespiratory arrest, asphyxiation and drowning.

BLS does not usually include the use of drugs or invasive maneuvers and can be contrasted with the provision of advanced life support (ALS).

Most lay citizens (non-health professionals) can master BLS skills after attending a short course.

Generally, the Red Cross, firefighters, police and Civil Protection are the ones who must be certified in the SVB. These measures are immensely useful for many other professions, such as nursery school employees, teachers, and security or airline personnel.

The incidence of cardiac arrest ranges from 0.4–2% of all hospitalized patients.

In Spain, extrapolating the figures described in other countries of deaths due to cardiorespiratory arrest (CPA) only in hospitals and secondary to resuscitation and taking into account the number of annual hospital admissions (5,100,930 patients according to 2005 data from the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs), it could be estimated that it exceeds the figure of 19,000 per year.

The magnitude of the problem from a public health point of view is such that the number of associated deaths far exceeds that generated by traffic accidents.

The probability of surviving cardiorespiratory arrest is low. Few resuscitation attempts are made before the arrival of the ambulance.

A defibrillatable rhythm, ages younger than 65 years, early initiation of resuscitation and location outside the home are associated with greater survival. Strategies must be created aimed at reducing response intervals and the population will be instructed in basic resuscitation.