What Is Basic Life Support?
Basic life support, or BLS, means providing medical care to those who are suffering some fatal conditions, including cardiac arrest, choking, or near-drowning. During the procedure, the person’s respiration and circulation are supported and the airway is kept open. Initial examination, airway maintenance, expired air ventilation (mouth-to-mouth ventilation; rescue breathing), and chest compression make up this procedure. When these three are used together, then we talk about CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Basic life support is usually performed by healthcare providers and medical professionals: paramedics, nurses, as well as those who chose to complete BLS courses and received professional BLS training. The purpose of basic life support taught at savinghands.net is to keep adequate breathing and circulation in place. However, in certain cases, particularly when the underlying pathology is respiratory failure, it may be able to reverse the cause and lead to full recovery through this “holding operation”.
How BLS Is Performed
When performing BLS, the most important things to check are the following:
- Circulation;
- Respiration;
- Airways.
To begin with, a thorough examination of the patient’s heartbeat and the flow of blood to the organs is required. Chest compressions may be necessary to maintain the blood flow throughout the body in certain situations. To ensure that patients can breathe, their airway should be examined for any foreign objects, mucus, or vomit. Moreover, make sure enough oxygen gets to the lungs and the body by checking the respiration of the patient.
When a patient needs emergency medical attention, you have to make sure he or she needs BLS right away. To do this, determine the nature of the condition or emergency and request professional medical assistance if needed. After that, perform the necessary measures, such as CPR or the Heimlich maneuver. Some cases require the use of a defibrillator to save lives.
In most cases, people trained to provide basic cardiac life support according to the guidelines of the American Heart Association are well-equipped to provide these kinds of basic services on their own. An immediate examination for potential risk and a follow-up check on the patient are always necessary. It is critical that someone immediately contacts medical services to ensure that people who have suffered a cardiac arrest or any other type of emergency receive the right care as soon as possible.
If you see someone having a medical emergency, the first thing you should do is check on them and find out how they feel. Find someone who can assist with BLS techniques as quickly as possible if there is no reaction. More assistance may be required in some cases. For instance, if the patient’s breathing is being hampered by a tilted head, or if they are suffering from hypothermia.
BLS Certification
Attending classes and passing examinations are the two required steps in becoming BLS-certified. These training sessions are usually only a few hours long and come at an affordable cost, so everyone can get training and basic life support cert.
Medical equipment isn’t required for the majority of BLS classes. CPR, chest compressions, and abdominal thrusts will be taught by the instructor and practiced by students until they get the needed skills and knowledge.
During the basic life support classes according to the requirements of the American Heart Association at Saving Hands, students practice on a dummy that typically serves as a substitute for a real human patient and is a representation of what it would be like to deal with an actual human being in an emergency.
When passing the tests, students get a basic life support card that is valid for two years.
