2015 Resuscitation Council (UK) Guidelines feature expanded section on pre-hospital resuscitation

On 15 October 2015, the Resuscitation Council (UK) published the 5-yearly update on resuscitation guidelines. Not only does this include updates to basic life support (BLS), advanced life support (ALS), and neonatal and paediatric resuscitation, but also includes a detailed and expanded section covering pre-hospital resuscitation, aimed at all those involved in pre-hospital care, but particularly ambulance paramedics.

These guidelines are the culmination of a 5-year international process led by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), involving the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) (of which the Resuscitation Council (UK) is a member), the American Heart Association (AHA), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), the Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR), the Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa (RCSA), the InterAmerican Heart Foundation (IAHF) and the Resuscitation Council of Asia (RCA). The process involves more than 500 experts in resuscitation who review all the published literature, collate and discuss the science and formulate a summary of the evidence. From this, each resuscitation council applies the evidence to its current guidelines and revises and updates them accordingly. The guidelines in 2010 have formed the framework on which the current 2015 revisions have been made, resulting in this year's resuscitation update.