What does BLS mean in MEDICAL

Basic Life Support (BLS) is a set of skills and procedures that are used to treat and assess a patient with an illness or injury. BLS includes airway management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillation (AED) and other measures to stabilize vital functions.

You must take a formal course in BLS from an authorized provider such as American Heart Association (AHA) or the American Red Cross. These courses involve hands-on instruction on how to provide life-saving interventions for adults, children and infants. The course will also cover AED usage, choking interventions, and the recognition of cardiac arrest.

Everyone should have basic knowledge on how to provide life support to someone in need; however, it is particularly important for healthcare providers, first responders, teachers, coaches, caretakers and anyone else who may encounter a situation in which emergency medical aid is needed.

Yes! Certification in Basic Life Support meets the standards of all U.S. states and territories.

Certification typically lasts two years from the date of successful completion of the BLS course; however some organizations may require renewal at shorter intervals than two years depending on their specific guidelines.

Yes! For pediatric certified providers additional training specific to infants and children under 12 years old is required which consists of skills such as infant rescue breathing, airway interventions for newborns and compressions techniques tailored for smaller patients.

It is recommended that CPR/BLS skills be reviewed every year regardless if your certification has been renewed or not since these techniques can change over time due to new research and evidence-based practice recommendations released by organizations like the AHA or Red Cross.

Make sure you properly assess the patient’s condition before administering CPR; check for signs of circulation such as breathing or movement; don’t forget about artificial respiration; try to keep your compressions steady but not too hard; also remember that even if you cannot detect any rhythm with an AED machine it is still important to continue chest compressions until medical attention arrives.