Editing Basic life support (section)

=== United States ===
Basic Life Support Emergency Medical Services in the United States are generally identified with Emergency Medical Technicians-Basic (EMT-B). EMT-B is the highest level of healthcare provider that is limited to the BLS protocol; higher medical functions use some or all of the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) protocols, in addition to BLS protocols. However, the [[American Heart Association]]'s BLS protocol is designed for use by laypeople, as well as students and others [[certified first responder]], and to some extent, higher medical function personnel.

'''BLS for Healthcare Providers Course'''

According to the American Heart Association, in order to be certified in BLS, a student must take an online or in-person course. However, an online BLS course must be followed with an in-person skills session in order to obtain a certification issued by The American Heart Association.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://savingchicagocpr.com/Chicago/bls-for-healthcare-providers/|title=HUT RI 73th|website=savingchicagocpr.com|access-date=2018-10-28|archive-date=2013-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214214053/http://savingchicagocpr.com/Chicago/bls-for-healthcare-providers/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

'''Chain of survival'''

The American Heart Association highlights the most important steps of BLS in a "five-link chain of survival."<ref>{{cite web | title = What is CPR? | publisher = American Heart Association | url = https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/what-is-cpr}}</ref> The chain of survival includes early recognition of an ongoing emergency, early initiation of CPR by a bystander, early use of a defibrillator, and early advanced life support once more qualified medical help arrives. Qualified bystanders with training in BLS are encouraged to perform the first three steps of the five-link chain of survival.

'''High Quality CPR'''
{{See also|Cardiopulmonary resuscitation#Methods}}
High quality [[cardiopulmonary resuscitation]] (CPR) and early defibrillation using an [[automated external defibrillator]] (AED) are the most important aspects of BLS to ensure a patient survives. CPR involves a rescuer or bystander providing chest compressions to a patient in a [[supine position]] while also giving rescue breaths. The rescuer or bystander  can also choose not to provide breaths and provide compression-only CPR. Depending on the age and circumstances of the patient, there can be variations in the compression to breath ratio given.