What is Basic Life Support (BLS)?
BLS is a sequence of events that need to be undertaken to initially try to revive a collapsed person. It can be performed by anyone who has been trained to do so, and in almost any setting. If started as soon as the person requires it, BLS provides the best possible chance of a good outcome for the collapsed infant or child. The key points in BLS are: • Airway • Breathing • Circulation or ABC for short. The first two steps of BLS – Airway & Breathing – deal with respiratory (breathing) arrest and the third step of BLS – Circulation – is intended to deal with cardiac (heart) arrest. However, this third stage will only be effective if Airway and Breathing are dealt with first. In other words, A needs to be dealt with before B, which needs to be dealt with before C. BLS for babies and children differ in some important ways from that for adults and therefore require specific training for it to be effectively delivered. The most important difference is that BLS for babies and children is ma
