Abstract
Every year 25 000 Australians experience a cardiac arrest in our community, but only 12% survive. The faster cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation, known as basic life support (BLS), is commenced, the greater the chance of survival. Currently, only half of the Australian adults are trained in BLS. The Australian Resuscitation Council and key stakeholder organisations believe that the best way to ensure all Australians know how to save a life is by mandating BLS education and training in our schools. This ‘Aussie KIDS SAVE LIVES’ position statement outlines our strategy to help facilitate the introduction of a programme of regular BLS training into the Australian school curriculum.
Highlights
Any Attempt at Resuscitation is Better Than No Attempt is the maxim of the Australian Resuscitation Council
The Australian Resuscitation Council and key stakeholders believe that the best way to ensure more people are willing and able to respond in an emergency is by ensuring basic life support (BLS) skills are taught to school children annually
The Australian school curriculum In Australia, the current national curriculum states that children in years 9 and 10 should be able to plan, rehearse and evaluate options for managing situations where their safety, or that of others may be at risk
Summary
Any Attempt at Resuscitation is Better Than No Attempt is the maxim of the Australian Resuscitation Council (www.resus.org.au). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation, together known as basic life support (BLS) (Fig. 1), provide the greatest chance of survival.[1] The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) was established in 1992 by principal resuscitation organisations to Correspondence: Associate Professor Janet Bray, Australian Resuscitation Council, 250-290 Spring Street, East Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia.
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