3rd December 2010

MEDIA RELEASE

St John Ambulance Australia has adopted some minor changes to resuscitation designed to help people remember how to perform resuscitation in an emergency situation.

St John Ambulance in the Northern Territory will be introducing the changes to all First Aid training from 1 January 2011 and would like to highlight to those members of the Territory community who have recently completed or updated their First Aid Training, that their training in First Aid (particularly CPR in this case) is in no way out of date or incorrect.

These recent changes to the way resuscitation will be taught are minor and specifically designed to make it easier for people to remember what to do in an emergency.

The first change emphasises the importance of calling an ambulance as soon as you are aware that you have a person who is not responding, with the insertion of the letter ‘S’ into the DRABCD Action Plan, so it now reads DRSABCD with ‘S’ equalling “Send for help”.

The second emphasises the importance of starting resuscitation with performing chest compressions. The cycle has been changed from 2:30 to 30:2 with compressions now given prominence over the initial breaths. The core of resuscitation, which is repeatedly performing 30 chest compressions and 2 breaths, remains unchanged.

“It can be difficult for people to remember what to do in an emergency with so much going on. These minor changes will make it easier to keep their training top of mind, and recall the necessary steps to perform resuscitation,” said Brendan Quirke, Director Education and Training for St John NT.

“For the untrained bystander, performing chest compressions only is better than not doing anything. However, we encourage all Australians to learn First Aid and gain the skills that could make a significant difference in an emergency.”

To learn first aid contact St John on 1300 360 455 or visit our training area for more information.