BACKGROUND

Since the first CPR Standards and Guidelines were released in 1975, major updates have been provided about every five years. True to form, the next update is scheduled to occur this fall in October, exactly five years to the month from the release of the current guidelines.

Today the guideline process is a fairly comprehensive undertaking that essentially begins immediately after the release of the previous guidelines. The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) www.ilcor.org compiles and reviews the most recent scientific evidence related to resuscitation to create a “consensus on science” report detailing the most effective treatment approaches. ILCOR is made up of all of the major resuscitation organizations in the world, including the American Heart Association, the European Resuscitation Council, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

Once completed, the individual resuscitation organizations create updated resuscitation guidelines based on the ILCOR consensus on science. These guidelines are released simultaneously to the public at large. The upcoming guideline release will occur on October 15, 2015.

UPDATING TRAINING MATERIALS

It is important to know that even if new guidelines are available, the process of creating new training materials takes some time to complete. All training organizations, including the Health & Safety Institute (HSI), use guideline updates as an opportunity to create new training materials that reflect changes that have occurred in content or in the delivery of training.

HSI UPDATE PROCESS

The Health and Safety Institute participated in the ILCOR process and is carefully watching its progress. Our goal is to prepare as much as we can prior to the release and to create our new materials as quickly as possible once the guidelines are released.

As we have in the past, we will immediately work on identifying any changes and create interim training materials that will allow Instructors to very quickly incorporate some of those changes into training classes. At the same time we will be ramping up our production processes to focus on creating the final training materials.

As we get closer to the release of the new guidelines, look for additional information and timelines regarding the materials update.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

For now, there are no changes for you to make. Continue to use the current materials as designed. As soon as the new guidelines are released, we will immediately work on identifying any changes.

Before the guidelines are officially released HSI will provide specific information about how you will update yourself to become eligible to use the new materials, including the use of any interim materials.

WE HAVE YOUR BACK

We have been through many of these updates and are confident in our ability to provide you a smooth and effective transition to using the updated materials. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment below.