Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support including Automated External Defibrillation
This subtopic focuses on the essential life-saving skills required to safely assess an emergency, manage an unresponsive casualty, and deliver effective basic life support including the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) for both adults and children. Learners will gain the competence to differentiate between casualties who are breathing normally and those who are not, and apply the correct first aid protocols, including the recovery position and CPR with AED, ensuring compliance with current resuscitation guidelines. This knowledge is critical for healthcare workers, first aiders, and anyone working in environments where emergency life support may be required.
Assessment criteria
Topic Overview
The STA Level 3 Award in Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support including AED is a vocational qualification designed for individuals who may need to provide emergency first aid in both adult and paediatric settings. This course covers the essential skills required to recognise and respond to life-threatening emergencies, including cardiac arrest, choking, and unconsciousness, in adults, children, and infants. It also includes the safe use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), which is increasingly available in public places and workplaces. Mastery of these skills is critical for anyone working in health and social care, education, or community roles where they may be first on the scene of an emergency.
This qualification sits within the wider context of health and safety in care environments, where prompt and effective basic life support can significantly improve survival outcomes. The course emphasises the importance of early recognition, early CPR, and early defibrillation as part of the 'chain of survival'. By completing this award, students demonstrate competence in assessing an emergency situation, performing high-quality chest compressions and rescue breaths, and using an AED safely and effectively. These skills are not only assessed in a controlled environment but are intended to be applied in real-world scenarios, making this qualification highly practical and directly relevant to workplace responsibilities.
Understanding the differences between adult and paediatric basic life support is a key focus, as anatomical and physiological variations affect the techniques used. For example, the ratio of compressions to breaths, the depth of compressions, and the method for clearing an airway differ between age groups. The course also covers how to adapt techniques for a pregnant patient or a person with a known medical condition. Ultimately, this award equips students with the confidence and competence to act decisively in an emergency, potentially saving lives in both their professional and personal lives.
Key Concepts
Core ideas you must understand for this topic
- →Chain of Survival: A sequence of actions that maximise survival from cardiac arrest: early recognition and call for help, early CPR, early defibrillation, and post-resuscitation care.
- →DRSABCD: A systematic approach to assessing and managing an emergency: Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defibrillation.
- →High-quality CPR: Delivering chest compressions at a rate of 100-120 per minute, depth of 5-6 cm in adults (4 cm in children, 4 cm in infants), with full chest recoil and minimal interruptions.
- →AED usage: Turning on the AED, attaching pads to the patient's bare chest (adult pads for adults, paediatric pads for children under 8), following voice prompts, and ensuring no one touches the patient during analysis and shock delivery.
- →Recovery position: Placing an unconscious breathing patient on their side to maintain an open airway and allow fluids to drain, with modifications for infants (held in a recovery position across the rescuer's arm).
Learning Objectives
What you need to know and understand
- 1. Be able to assess an emergency situation safely2. Be able to provide first aid to an unresponsive casualty who is breathing normally3. Be able to provide first aid to an unresponsive casualty who is not breathing normally
Assessment Criteria
Key criteria assessors look for in your portfolio
- Award credit for demonstrating a systematic scene assessment: checking for dangers, surveying the situation, and calling for appropriate help before approaching the casualty.
- Award credit for correctly placing an unresponsive breathing casualty into the recovery position, ensuring airway patency, maintaining spinal alignment, and continuously monitoring breathing.
- Award credit for initiating immediate CPR with correct hand placement, compression depth (5-6cm for adults, at least one-third of chest depth for children/infants), rate (100-120 per minute), and ventilations if trained.
- Award credit for safely and promptly using an AED: turning it on, applying pads correctly (avoiding medication patches and implantable devices), following voice prompts, and delivering a shock when advised.
- Award credit for modifying techniques for paediatric casualties, including using two fingers for infant chest compressions and selecting child pads or paediatric AED mode where available.
Assessment Guidance
Guidance for achieving higher grades
- 💡Internalise the DR ABC sequence (Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, Circulation/Call for help) and verbalise each step during practical assessments to demonstrate thoroughness.
- 💡When performing CPR on a manikin, clearly state your compression depth and rate aloud to confirm understanding of guidelines.
- 💡Practice scenario-based drills that alternate between adult and paediatric casualties to reinforce differences in pad placement, compression technique, and rescue breathing.
- 💡Before touching the manikin, always pause to simulate a real scene assessment—saying out loud, “check for danger” and “call 999/112”—as these initial actions carry significant weight in examinations.
- 💡When demonstrating CPR, ensure you verbalise your actions clearly, especially when checking for breathing (look, listen, feel for no more than 10 seconds). Examiners look for a systematic approach and confidence in your movements. Practice the sequence until it becomes automatic.
- 💡For the AED assessment, remember to state that you would 'power on the AED and follow the voice prompts' even if the simulator does not have sound. Also, emphasise that you would ensure the chest is dry and free from excessive hair before attaching pads. This shows attention to detail.
- 💡In paediatric scenarios, always consider the child's age and size. For example, if an infant is choking, you would use back blows and chest thrusts, not abdominal thrusts. Examiners appreciate when you adapt your technique appropriately and explain why.
Common Mistakes
Common errors to avoid in your coursework
- Confusing the recovery position for a breathing casualty with the need for CPR in a non-breathing casualty, leading to delayed intervention.
- Placing AED pads too close together or directly over a pacemaker/medication patch without relocation, risking burns or reduced defibrillation efficacy.
- Neglecting to call emergency services early or failing to send a bystander to fetch an AED before starting CPR.
- Not checking for breathing for a full 10 seconds, resulting in misidentification of agonal gasps as normal breathing.
- Applying adult protocols to infants without modification (e.g., using two rescue breaths with full cheeks instead of puffs).
- Misconception: You should always give rescue breaths before starting chest compressions. Correction: In adult CPR, start with chest compressions immediately if the patient is unresponsive and not breathing normally. Rescue breaths are given after 30 compressions. For children and infants, give 5 initial rescue breaths if trained and confident, then continue with 30:2.
- Misconception: An AED can restart a stopped heart. Correction: An AED is used to treat ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, not a flatline (asystole). It delivers a shock to 'reset' the heart's electrical activity, allowing the natural pacemaker to resume. CPR is essential to maintain blood flow until a shockable rhythm is present.
- Misconception: Paediatric CPR is the same as adult CPR, just with less force. Correction: While the principles are similar, there are key differences: compression depth is about one-third of the chest depth (4 cm for infants, 5 cm for children), the ratio is 15:2 for two rescuers (30:2 for single rescuer), and the technique for opening the airway (neutral position for infants, head tilt-chin lift for children) differs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions students ask about this topic
Pass / Merit / Distinction Evidence Checklist
How your portfolio evidence is graded for SAFETY TRAINING AWARDS Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support including Automated External Defibrillation
Every vocational unit is marked against named criteria rather than an exam percentage. Your tutor's brief lists the exact codes for this unit — here is what each band is asking you to do.
Demonstrate baseline knowledge, accurate terminology, and core practical application.
Provide detailed analysis, structured explanations, and clear workplace reasoning.
Deliver thorough evaluation, original problem solving, and fully justified recommendations.
Before You Start
Prior knowledge that will help with this topic
- •Basic understanding of human anatomy, particularly the heart and lungs, and how they function in oxygen delivery.
- •Familiarity with the concept of 'consent' in first aid, including implied consent when the patient is unconscious.
- •No formal prerequisites are required for this level 3 award, but previous first aid training (e.g., Emergency First Aid at Work) is beneficial.
Coursework AI Review
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Key Terminology
Essential terms to know
- 1. Be able to assess an emergency situation safely2. Be able to provide first aid to an unresponsive casualty who is breathing normally3. Be able to provide first aid to an unresponsive casualty who is not breathing normally
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