Basic Life Support
Adventure Medicine recommends the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) guidelines for Basic Life Support. Details of these guidelines are available from the website www.resus.org.au. These guidelines were revised in 2006 with a number of changes introduced to make the response standardised to all circumstances.
Basic Life Support follows 5 simple steps - DR ABC
Danger
- Check to ensure no danger to yourself and any other responders (ie don’t step on a snake or fall down a cliff)
- Remove the injured person from any further danger
- Is the injured person responding or are they unconscious – call out loudly and gently shake the person – look for signs of movement and breathing
- Do not waste time checking for a pulse
- If no obvious response call for any help that may be available and progress on to the next steps
Airway
- Open the airway – Look and listen for any obvious signs that the airway is obstructed (noisy or gurgling breathing sounds)
- Take hold of the chin or angles of the jaw and lift forwards – this may help lift the tongue out of the way and make breathing easier
Breaths
- If normal breathing is not present give 2 large mouth-to-mouth breaths
Chest compressions
- The standardised rate is 30 chest compressions for every 2 breaths given
- Aim to compress over the middle of the chest – there is no need to measure
- There is a natural tendency to go to slow and too soft – Push fast and hard – aim for 100 compressions per minute
- The rate is the same for adults and for children
