Development of out-of-hospital resuscitation education

Every second counts in a cardiac arrest emergency. And we know that the right training could make the difference between life and death.

At Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) we publish guidelines and offer courses to support healthcare professionals who provide patient care across all ages, including newborn babies, children and adults who are critically unwell.

Modern life support courses focus not only on cardiac arrest, but also on early prevention and recognition. Traditionally, these have tended to focus on in-hospital care of patients and are a core part of training for doctors and nurses working in emergency care settings, to ensure consistency and competency in leading a resuscitation attempt.

As we prepare to update our national clinical guidelines and courses in 2025 to include the latest evidence-based practice, we are also looking to provide more bespoke guidance and education for practitioners who work outside of the hospital environment.

While the core principles of resuscitation are the same in any setting, the constraints, challenges, conditions and availability of resources may be very different from those found in hospitals. In partnership with a multidisciplinary development group, RCUK has supported the advancement of an Out-of-Hospital Newborn Life Support (OHNLS) course, which has been successfully piloted across the UK and will be made widely available following our Guidelines 2025 update towards the end of the year.

This course delivers the same key learning outcomes as our Newborn Life Support course but also focuses on the challenges of keeping babies warm, the different equipment available, team dynamics and transport considerations faced by those working in a community setting. Aimed primarily at community midwives and paramedics, this one-day course is an example of how RCUK is seeking to support the needs of the modern multidisciplinary workforce and recognition of the advanced care now being offered within a community setting.

We are also developing an Out-of-Hospital Advanced Life Support (OHALS) course designed for those working within ambulance services, responder schemes, air ambulances, rescue services or any other environments where the challenges of care and need for transportation forms a key part of resuscitation care.

We recognise that organisations supporting healthcare professionals in out-of-hospital settings often do not have routine access to RCUK courses and that they may also face obstacles in securing funding for training opportunities. Additionally, finding the time to support staff in completing these courses may be challenging, especially within services that are already experiencing significant resourcing constraints.

We are keen to support where we can, and our goal is to offer standardised training across all disciplines and professions. We also aim to collaborate with organisations to ensure their clinicians can participate in these invaluable courses, supporting the growing specialisation of out-of-hospital resuscitation and ultimately improving cardiac arrest outcomes nationwide.