[Recommendation on education of basic life support in schools].

Abstract

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is still one of the leading causes of death not only worldwide but also in Hungary. Its mortality remains high despite the fact that resuscitation recommendations define more precisely the factors that can improve the success of resuscitation. One of the determining factors for the success of resuscitation is the timely and professionally performed basic life support by laypeople. It is therefore essential that laypeople have basic knowledge in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. One of the most effective methods achieving this goal is to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation to children in preschool and school settings. In this review, the founders of the “Kids Save Lives in Hungary” initiative and the coworkers of the Hungarian Resuscitation Council publish a joint recommendation regarding the methods and curriculum of school resuscitation education, providing guidance on the length, content, frequency and implementation of the education. In addition, special emphasis is placed on who should train children cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and what type of ‘train the trainer’ course should be provided to instructors and school teachers. In our recommendation, we also discuss the implementation strategy we propose in order to ensure a widespread distribution of effective and sustainable cardiopulmonary resuscitation education in Hungarian schools. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(33): 1283–1293.