The Live Wire

ELS (Emergency Life Support Skills)

Every year in the UK, around 141,000 people suffer a heart attack.

ELS is the set of actions needed to keep someone alive until professional help arrives, it can be performed without any special medical knowledge. They include performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with choking, serious bleeding and helping someone that may be having a heart attack.

The BHF believes that ELS should be taught to all young people in the UK, equipping them with vital skills to save lives in their communities.

Currently there is no compulsory ELS on the curriculum in schools across the UK. We are calling on all UK governments to encourage the inclusion of ELS as a key development skill at all secondary schools.

Children are often present at accidents and emergencies. If properly trained they can be as effective as adults in administering ELS, helping to prevent disability and save lives.

We run the Heartstart Programme, started in 1996 and designed to train people in ELS. To date the Heartstart programme has successfully trained over 2.2 million people, including 760,000 children.

For more information on BHF's ELS policy visit our policy pages.

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