[European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2000 for adult basic life support].

: The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) last issued guidelines for Basic Life Support (BLS) in 1998 [1]. These were based on the "Advisory Statements" of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) published in 1997 [2]. Following this, the American Heart Association, together with representatives from ILCOR, undertook a series of evidence-based evaluations of the science of resuscitation [3] which culminated in the publication of "Guidelines 2000 for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care" in August 2000 [4,5]. The Basic Life Support and Automated External Defibrillation Working Group (BLS&AED Group) has considered this document and has recommended changes in the ERC BLS guidelines. These are presented in this paper.

[1]  W Panzer,et al.  Skills of lay people in checking the carotid pulse. , 1997, Resuscitation.

[2]  J. Nolan,et al.  Guidelines for the basic management of the airway and ventilation during resuscitation. A statement by the Airway and Ventilation Management Working Group of the European Resuscitation Council. , 1996, Resuscitation.

[3]  F J Ochoa,et al.  Competence of health professionals to check the carotid pulse. , 1998, Resuscitation.

[4]  L. Bossaert,et al.  O-8 Feeling for the carotid pulse: Is five seconds enough? , 1996 .

[5]  W. Kaye,et al.  Teaching adult resuscitation in the United States--time for a rethink. , 1998, Resuscitation.

[6]  A. Handley,et al.  The 1998 European Resuscitation Council guidelines for adult single rescuer basic life support , 1998, BMJ.

[7]  L. Bossaert,et al.  Quality and efficiency of bystander CPR , 1993 .

[8]  S. O'kelly,et al.  The palpation of pulses , 1996 .

[9]  A. Idris,et al.  Rescuer Breathing Pattern Significantly Affects O2 and Co2 Received By Patient During Mouth-to-mouth Ventilation , 1998 .

[10]  A. Handley,et al.  Single rescuer adult basic life support. An advisory statement from the Basic Life Support Working Group of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) , 1997, Resuscitation.

[11]  N. Pijls,et al.  Resuscitation skills of lay public after recent training. , 1994, Annals of Emergency Medicine.

[12]  C. Lester,et al.  Effectiveness of the BBC's 999 training roadshows on cardiopulmonary resuscitation: video performance of cohort of unforewarned participants at home six months afterwards , 1996, BMJ.

[13]  P. Steen,et al.  Airway pressure with chest compressions versus Heimlich manoeuvre in recently dead adults with complete airway obstruction. , 2000, Resuscitation.

[14]  A. Handley,et al.  A rationale for staged teaching of basic life support. , 1998, Resuscitation.

[15]  R. Berg,et al.  Efficacy of chest compression-only BLS CPR in the presence of an occluded airway. , 1998, Resuscitation.

[16]  A. Handley,et al.  Four-step CPR--improving skill retention. , 1998, Resuscitation.

[17]  W. Brampton,et al.  Resuscitation skills amongst anaesthetists. , 1995, Resuscitation.

[18]  W. Dick,et al.  Checking the carotid pulse check: diagnostic accuracy of first responders in patients with and without a pulse. , 1996, Resuscitation.