The Heart Foundation of Jamaica - Emergency Cardiac Care Programme

	The Heart Foundation of Jamaica (The HFJ) offers American Heart Association (AHA) certificate courses in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, First Aid, Basic Cardiac Life Support (BLS) training to medical professionals and laypersons, companies, churches, factories and school children; and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) training courses to healthcare professionals. These training programmes are to provide participants with the knowledge and skills required to recognize life threatening cardiopulmonary emergencies, such as cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest and choking and how to respond to them. The participants will learn how to recognize heart attack and stroke in adults and breathing difficulties in children. Issues relating to the ‘Chain of Survival” are also addressed. The Chain of Survival refers to: • Early recognition • Early access • Early CPR • Early defibrillation • Early advanced care • Early rehabilitation The Chain of Survival includes all actions taken from the moment someone collapses, to activation of the emergency services, then transport to hospital and care in the accident & emergency department and eventual recovery. Participants for all courses are required to use manual(s) designed to provide information that will be useful during and after the courses. Resuscitation equipment, such as mannequins (adult, infant and child) and automated external defibrillators, are used in these training courses for demonstration purposes, as well as the necessary disposable items, such as lungs and face shields. All courses include the use of education aids, for example, easels, DVD/computer and multimedia projectors.

	The Advanced Cardiac Life Support Course and Paediatric Advanced Life Support courses are for health professionals who work in certain specialties, example, Accident & Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Operating Theatre and Ambulance Services. These courses are very intensive and require several pieces of specialized training equipment. These include defibrillators, intubation mannequins and heart rhythm generators, as well as mannequins. The courses are run over one or two days and are supervised/facilitated by American Heart Association CPR/ACLS/PALS Instructors and are structured with set curricula, as well as written and practical examinations for student’s evaluation. The cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) programme was established by The foundation in 1984. This was made possible with the assistance of Project Hope and the United States Peace Corps. The CPR programme was founded by Dr. Edward Chung, Consultant Cardiologist and board member of The HFJ and was further developed by the late Dr. Beverly Grant-Lewis, Consultant Anesthesiologist and board member of The HFJ. The Director of Emergency Cardiac Care at The HFJ is Dr. Lambert Innis, who is also a Board member of The HFJ.