Resuscitation Guideline Changes
In January 2011 the Australian Resuscitation Council made a number changes to their basic life support guidelines. These guidelines are adopted by training and other first aid organisations as best practice. The main aim has been to make it easier to remember how to perform resuscitation in an emergency.
The changes are summarised below:
- Introduction of S (Send for help) in the DRABC(D) Action Plan, now DRSABC(D). This emphasises the importance of calling triple zero (000) for an ambulance as soon as someone is assessed as not responding
- CPR now commences with 30 chest compressions not the 2 rescue breaths
- Removal of the term ‘signs of life’ as this was thought to be confusing and open to interpretation. Signs of life specifies a focus on unresponsiveness and not breathing normally as the indicators for resuscitation
- Where more than one rescuer, a change in rescuer should occur every 2 minutes to minimise fatigue and maximise effectiveness of compressions
- If rescuer is unwilling or unable to perform rescue breaths during CPR, then chest compression-only of CPR should be performed.
Revised Action Plan
Disclaimer: St John First Aid Protocols are for the Australian market only. All care has been taken in preparing the information but St John takes no responsibility for its use by other parties or individuals. St John encourages first aid training as these Fact Sheets are NOT a substitute for first aid training.
Sources
http://www.resus.org.au/
http://www.stjohn.org.au/images/stjohn/information/DRSABCD%20Action%20Pl…
