Advanced Life Support (ALS) & Intermediate Life Support (ILS)

The ALS course teaches the successful candidate the theory and practical skills to effectively lead a multidisciplinary team in treating cardiorespiratory arrest, peri-arrest situations and special circumstances.

Who is it for?
This course is designed for healthcare professionals who would be expected to apply the skills taught as part of their clinical duties and all applicants should hold a current clinical appointment and professional healthcare qualification.

What will you learn and how is it assessed?
Candidates receive a course manual one month prior to attending a two day course. They are expected to study this thoroughly before completing a pre-course multiple-choice questionnaire (MCQ) before the intensive two day course. This intensive two day course comprises lectures, practical skill stations and workshops to re-enforce the manual and precourse learning. The course is assessed through continuous assessment, practical assessment and a final MCQ paper. Subjects covered are as follows:

o Advanced Life Support in Perspective

o Causes and Prevention of Cardiac Arrest

o Acute Coronary Syndromes

o ALS Treatment Algorithm

o Post Resuscitation Care
o Airway Management

o Monitoring, Rhythm Recognition and 12-lead ECG
o Initial Assessment (the ABCDE Approach) and Resuscitation (inc manual defibrillation)
o Tachycardias and bradycardias 

o Blood Gases

o Cardiac Arrest in Special Circumstances
- Asthma
- Analphylaxis
- Hypovolaemia
- Pregnancy
- Poisoning
- Electrolyte abnormalities)
o Cardiac Arrest Management Scenarios
o Ethics / Legal aspects / DNR/DNAR

Who teaches the ALS Course?
The course is taught by an experienced faculty of registered ALS Instructors who are all specialists in the field of resuscitation and remain clinical in practice.

How long is the certificate valid for?
Successful candidates will receive a certificate valid for 4 years from the Resuscitation Council UK

The ILS course has been developed in order to standardise much of the in-hospital training undertaken already by Resuscitation Officers. Its aim is to train healthcare personnel in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, simple airway management and safe defibrillation (manual and/or AED), enabling them to manage patients in cardiac arrest until arrival of a cardiac arrest team and to participate as members of that team.

Who is it for?
This course is designed for healthcare professionals who might be expected to apply the skills taught as part of their clinical duties. More commonly this course is used as the base resuscitation course for all clinical staff (especially nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers etc.) However this course might also be suitable for law enforcement staff (police & prison officers), fire service personnel, airline cabin crew etc.

What will you learn and how is it assessed?
Candidates receive a course manual two weeks prior to attending a one day course that comprises lectures, practical skill stations and workshops to re-enforce the manual. The course is assessed through continuous assessment. Subjects covered are as follows:

o Causes and Prevention of Cardiac Arrest

o ALS Treatment Algorithm

o Basic Airway Management
(LA/LMA optional)
o Initial Assessment (the ABCDE Approach) and Resuscitation (AED and/or manual defibrillation)
o Cardiac Arrest Management Scenarios

The emphasis of the scenarios is the initial management of the patient prior to the arrival of the cardiac arrest team and then to become an efficive member of this team.

There is also a small allowance for the course to have 'optional targeted training' included. This can include topics such as specific environments, DNAR orders etc.

Who teaches the ILS Course?
The course is taught by an experienced faculty of registered ALS Instructors who are all specialists in the field of resuscitation and remain clinical in practice.

How long is the certificate valid for?
Successful candidates will receive a certificate valid for 1 years from the Resuscitation Council UK

Both these courses are run in conjunction with a registered RCUK ALS/ILS Course Centre.