Free Emergency Life Support Training
How would you respond in an emergency?
The skills of emergency life support (ELS) are simple, can save lives and be learnt in just 2 hours.
They can be performed by anyone to keep someone alive whilst the ambulance is on its way.
The Heartstart Course will teach you how to:
- Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
- Care for an unconscious casualty
- Help someone who is choking
- Manage serious bleeding
- Recognise and treat someone having a heart attack.
Learning these simple skills could help you save a life.
Heartstart UK is an initiative co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation to teach members of the public what to do in a life-threatening emergency: simple skills that can save lives.
It provides opportunities for people to learn the vital skills of ELS. Through Heartstart UK the BHF aims to strengthen the chain of survival by promoting and supporting ELS training in the community.
Heartstart courses are run throughout Cumbria and Lancashire by Community Responder Volunteers. They offer practical advice, whilst encouraging discussion on improving resuscitation knowledge and practice.
The benefit of CPR performed by a bystander in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is significant. If you can perform effective CPR whilst the ambulance is on its way you can more then double a person’s chance of surviving?
Heartstart UK in the community
The North West Ambulance Service supports the Heartstart initiative by encouraging Community Responders to provide Heartstart courses for their communities. Many of these schemes are open to the general public and are all free. The course lasts for two hours and provides very practical ‘hands-on’ learning.They can be attended by all.
Are you a member of a group that has 2 hours to spare to learn what to do in an emergency?
We have trained WI, running clubs, scouts, guides, church groups, canoe clubs…
Heartstart UK in schools
Young people of ten years and over can attend a Heartstart UK course. However, some ELS skills like making a 999 call or the recovery position can be learnt by much younger children.
Heartstart UK schools provide ELS training for pupils, usually as part of their curriculum.
The course can be delivered in two ways:
- As a stand alone course for children of ten and over
- As a staged programme starting with children as young as four or five years of age.
If you would like more information about Heartstart courses contact:
- Mark Evans – Community Resuscitation Development Officer, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust on 01772 773009
Area Coordinators
- South Cumbria - Peter Gillespie 07789174678
- East Lancashire - Dawn Tayler 07795801614
- West Lancashire - Adrian Sweeney 07827954116
- North Cumbria - Phillippa Groves 07827954048