The Resuscitation Council UK has officially released the 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines, setting the national standard for life-saving education and practice. These updated guidelines shape the training we deliver and will bring several important changes to our courses.
The new guidance will be introduced into all relevant First Aid and Resuscitation training courses from January 2026.
In this post, we’ll explain the key updates, what they mean for First Aid providers like us, and how we’re preparing for the changes.
What’s New in the 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines?
The 2025 update includes changes across several key areas:
-
Education
-
Epidemiology of cardiac arrest
-
Ethics
-
Systems Saving Lives
-
Adult Basic Life Support
-
Adult Advanced Life Support
-
Special Circumstances
-
Post-Resuscitation Care
-
Paediatric Life Support (Basic and Advanced)
-
Newborn Resuscitation
-
First Aid
Education: Lifesaving Learning from an Early Age
The new guidelines emphasise that resuscitation education should start early, ideally between ages 4 and 6, and continue throughout life. Annual refreshers in schools are encouraged to ensure confidence and retention.
Alongside our workplace First Aid training, we are also able to support this approach through our Mini Medic and Student First Aid sessions. These engaging, age-appropriate sessions help young people build the skills and confidence to respond in an emergency. For further information on these sessions, please email: hello@stthomastraining.co.uk.
Epidemiology of cardiac arrest
This section of the Resuscitation Guidelines presents epidemiology and outcomes of cardiac arrest data drawn from UK studies, including both in-hospital and out-of-hospital settings. Some key statistics from Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA);
- Around 115,000 OHCA are reported to ambulance services annually, with resuscitation attempted in approximately 43,000 cases.
- Most OHCA occur at home, in men, and in adults aged over 65, with 80% of cardiac origin.
- Bystander CPR is provided in 60-73% of cases, though AED use remains under 10%.
- Outcomes are poorer in deprived, urban, and ethnically diverse areas.
- Paediatric OHCA is rare, with around 750-800 cases each year.
We incorporate these statistics into our courses to help learners understand the real-world impact of early intervention, and why what they’re learning truly saves lives.
Ethics
Ethical guidance in resuscitation now highlights the importance of person-centred care planning, open communication about future treatment, and clear documentation. Families are encouraged to be supported if they wish to be present during resuscitation, and decisions must always align with the patient’s values and best interests.
While ethics isn’t a formal part of our First Aid syllabus, it’s a recurring topic in health and social care settings, and often discussed during our other training sessions, including Mental Capacity Act and Safeguarding topics.
Systems saving lives
The updated Systems Saving Lives guidance focuses on reinforcing the Chain of Survival – the critical steps that link early recognition, CPR, defibrillation, and post-resuscitation care.
It calls for coordinated efforts between communities, emergency services, and educators to ensure that more people are trained, more AEDs are accessible, and more lives are saved.
Adult basic life support
The 2025 adult basic life support guidelines emphasise that anyone can save a life by learning CPR and using an AED.
The key steps are to recognise cardiac arrest early, call 999, and starting chest compressions immediately. The new guidance advises calling 999 for any unresponsive person before assessing breathing. The ambulance service call handlers will be able to support recognition and give CPR instructions.
Compressions should be 100–120 per minute and 5–6 cm deep, with minimal pauses. Trained rescuers may add rescue breaths, but compression-only CPR is recommended for untrained bystanders.
Ambulance call handlers play a vital role by helping callers recognise cardiac arrest, guiding them through CPR and AED use, and connecting them to nearby first responders and AEDs. Early CPR and defibrillation can double or even quadruple survival chances, and the risk of causing harm is very low. The guidance also stresses the importance of emotional support for bystanders after a resuscitation attempt.
Adult advanced life support
Although we don’t deliver ALS training, it’s worth noting that the updated guidance continues to prioritise early recognition, high-quality chest compressions, rapid defibrillation, and treatment of reversible causes, with added focus on effective ventilation and correct pad placement.
Awareness of these principles helps our learners understand how their first aid actions connect to advanced care provided by paramedics and hospital teams.
Paediatric life support (basic and advanced)
The 2025 update for paediatric resuscitation focuses on:
-
Early recognition of serious illness using structured tools (ABCDE assessment)
-
Age- and weight-specific CPR guidance
-
Early defibrillation when required
-
Management of special situations (trauma, asthma, drowning, hypothermia)
These topics are covered in our Paediatric First Aid and Emergency Paediatric First Aid courses — with key principles also discussed in our general First Aid training.
First aid
For the first time, First Aid has its own dedicated chapter in the guidelines, acknowledging it as the vital first link in the chain of survival. It defines First Aid as help provided by anyone, in any situation, and focuses on early help, scene safety, and structured assessment using the ABCDE approach.
The new section outlines clear expectations for first aid providers:
- Call 999 promptly
- Only use equipment or medicines you are trained to use
- Prioritise reassurance and safety until professional help arrives.
Key emergencies covered in the guidelines include choking, life-threatening bleeding, drowning, chest pain, asthma, anaphylaxis, hypoglycaemia, opioid overdose, stroke, and trauma, with simple stepwise interventions such as recovery position, tourniquets, adrenaline autoinjectors, and naloxone use where appropriate.
The chapter also extends to environmental and situational emergencies such as heat stroke, hypothermia, snake bite, and concussion.
This section will be a major focus of our updated First Aid courses from 2026 onward.
Future Updates from Resuscitation Council UK
Resuscitation Council UK will continue to review new evidence through ILCOR and update its guidelines every five years, or sooner if major new findings emerge. The 2025 Guidelines will be introduced into training courses from January 2026.
St Thomas Training Implementation Plan
Over the coming weeks we will update all affected resources, including teaching notes, PowerPoints and manuals. Once everything is ready, we’ll share a detailed guidance pack and newsletter outlining what’s changed, so all our trainers and learners are fully informed and confident. If you are not already on our mailing list and would like to receive this newsletter, please let us know by sending an email to : hello@stthomastraining.co.uk.
