GPAtlasWhat it covers
Spotting the patient who is going to arrest, and the ABCDE assessment that buys the time back. The in-practice resuscitation sequence rather than the community one, and what changes when the rest of the team arrives. Airway adjuncts, the pocket mask and the self-inflating bag, ventilation with oxygen, the airway blocked by food and the patient who is breathing and will not wake. The emergency drugs a surgery keeps and the reversible causes we can treat. Recorded decisions about CPR, the handover the ambulance crew needs, and the record, review, debrief and support that close the event.
Who it is for
All clinical staff: GPs and trainees, nurses and nurse practitioners, healthcare assistants, pharmacists and paramedics working in the practice. It carries the Level 1 outcomes forward.
By the end you will be able to
- Recognise the deteriorating adult, assess with ABCDE, and escalate before the heart stops.
- Run the in-practice arrest sequence with the 2025 numbers, and hold the team together.
- Place pads, read what the defibrillator decides, and treat the causes we can reach.
- Use airway adjuncts, clear an obstruction, ventilate as a pair, and name the drugs.
- Apply a recorded CPR decision correctly, including when nothing is recorded at all.
- Hand over to the crew, write the times, and close the event afterwards.
Modules
- Before the heart stops
- When it happens here
- Airway, oxygen and drugs
- Decisions, handover, afterwards
This is the knowledge part of adult basic life support with a defibrillator for clinical staff. Compressions, the pads and the self-inflating bag are practised on a manikin with a trainer, and the Resuscitation Council UK expects clinical staff to update at least every year.
Content mapped to the learning outcomes of the Core Skills Training Framework (England) v1.1: Resuscitation, Level 2, Adult Basic Life Support. Law named: Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 12.
Sources
- Adult basic life support Guidelines (Resuscitation Council UK, published 27 October 2025)
- Adult advanced life support Guidelines (Resuscitation Council UK, published 27 October 2025)
- Adult in-hospital resuscitation algorithm 2025 (Resuscitation Council UK)
- Adult advanced life support algorithm 2025, reversible causes and post-ROSC care (Resuscitation Council UK)
- Special circumstances Guidelines (Resuscitation Council UK, published 27 October 2025)
- First Aid Guidelines: adult choking and the recovery position (Resuscitation Council UK, published 27 October 2025)
- The ABCDE approach (Resuscitation Council UK, published October 2015, updated July 2024)
- Quality Standards: Primary care (Resuscitation Council UK, published November 2013, last updated May 2020)
- Quality Standards: Primary care equipment and drug lists (Resuscitation Council UK, last updated May 2020)
- FAQs: Emergency treatment plans and recommendations about CPR (Resuscitation Council UK)
- ReSPECT, the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (Resuscitation Council UK)
- Decisions relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 3rd edition (1st revision) 2016 (British Medical Association, Resuscitation Council UK and Royal College of Nursing)
- GP mythbuster 1: Emergency care in general practice (Care Quality Commission, updated 25 February 2026)
- National Early Warning Score (NEWS) 2 (Royal College of Physicians, updated report of a working party, December 2017)
- NEWS2 Chart 4: clinical response to the NEWS trigger thresholds (Royal College of Physicians)
- Core Skills Training Framework (England) Statutory/Mandatory Subject Guide v1.1, June 2021 (Skills for Health), Resuscitation: Key Learning Outcomes, Level 2 Adult Basic Life Support (archived copy)
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 12: safe care and treatment
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 20: duty of candour
GPAtlas is not accredited, verified or endorsed by Skills for Health or NHS England. Acceptance of this training is at the discretion of your employer, who remains responsible for confirming it meets local requirements. Your employer may require more frequent refreshers than the guidance period; the practice's own policy applies. Some pictures and films in our courses, and the film narration, are made with AI tools. We check every one for accuracy before we publish it.