Basic life support (BLS) encompasses a series of skills that can be used to support, or save, someone's life. Emergency medical personnel are trained to use BLS skills, which may also include the use of specialized medical equipment and medications, depending on state laws. However, anyone can learn basic life support skills through an appropriate community training program and become armed with the ability to save a life.
Chain of Survival
The "Chain of Survival" is the foundation of basic life support and includes recognizing an emergency, calling 911, early CPR and early defibrillation. The first step is recognizing when someone needs immediate medical attention, such as the symptoms of heart attack or stroke. Then, 9-1-1, or emergency medical services, should be immediately called for anyone in need. Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provides life-saving circulation and breathing for victims who are not breathing and do not have a pulse. Early defibrillation is provided to a victim without a heartbeat by administering an electrical jolt to the heart in an effort to restart it. The American Heart Association teaches the Chain of Survival as the key for survival for victims suffering from cardiac arrest and other emergencies.
ABCs
Basic life support includes knowing how to manage and treat a patient's airway, breathing and circulation--known as the ABCs. Airway skills include recognizing when a victim's airway does not support adequate breathing and how to treat it. Breathing skills include recognizing when someone is either not breathing or has insufficient breathing, and how to provide adequate artificial breathing for the victim. Additionally, circulation management includes assessing a victim's pulse, identifying and treating bleeding, and knowing how to restore circulation as needed.
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a basic life support skill that can be performed by trained laypersons as well as emergency medical responders. CPR is a method of providing artificial circulation and breathing for a victim who is not breathing and does not have a pulse. This is accomplished by a series of chest compressions in which a patient's chest is compressed next to the heart to circulate blood, and rescue breathing in which the patient is given oxygen by mouth-to-mouth. CPR is proven to increase the chance of survival for those who experience cardiac arrest, and the sooner CPR is performed, the greater chance a victim has for survival.
Choking
The Heimlich maneuver helps unclog the blocked airway of a person who is choking and can be performed by anyone who knows the steps. Food or other material can lodge in the upper airway, resulting in a blockage that makes it impossible to breathe.
The Heimlich maneuver can reverse this blockage by having a rescuer place her arms around the victim from behind and deliver a rapid series of upward thrusts just below the victim's ribcage. The pressure from these thrusts forces air upward inside the victim's airway and can dislodge the blockage, which can restore breathing and increase chance for survival.
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