A scoring system for the assessment of basic life support ability

Introduction: There are no current validated scoring systems for the assess ment of adult single rescuer basic life support (BLS) ability. A system was proposed and prospectively validated. Methods: The system was tested first ly on 12 skilled BLS providers (all instructors). It was then further evalu ated on 75 undergraduate dental students, who were assessed before and afte r a standard training session on adult BLS. Results: All 12 skilled persons passed the test according to the system. The system successfully showed a positive training effect in the dental students. It correctly identified th ose who 'passed' after training, i.e. those were capable of providing effec tive BLS (71/75, 94.7%). It also correctly identified those who were not co nsidered competent (4/71, 5.3%). Conclusion: This is a simple, effective, o bjective system for assessment of basic life support. It is easily adaptabl e for the 1998 Guidelines on BLS. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Al l rights reserved.