In October of this year, Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) published the 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines. They set out the latest best practices for resuscitation and emergency care and include a new chapter on first aid. These guidelines cover basic and advanced first aid and life support for adults, children, and newborns. They were developed through a global evidence review that considered the most current international research, as well as insights from clinicians, educators, members of the public, and cardiac arrest survivors.
The Resuscitation Guidelines have been updated “to improve survival, strengthen emergency care systems, and ensure consistent, high-quality training and practice across the four nations.”1 Key changes in the 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines as identified by RCUK include:
- “Resuscitation education: Introducing CPR education from early childhood (ages 4–6) and reinforcing it throughout school and professional training, using simulation and gamified learning.
- First aid: A new section focused on bystander response, with updated guidance for emergencies including bleeding, choking, overdose, stroke, and trauma.
- Basic and advanced life support: Updated advice on chest compressions, defibrillation, airway management, and the role of ambulance call handlers.
- Ethics and end-of-life care: Stronger focus on advance care planning, person-centred decision-making, and family involvement during resuscitation.
- Systems saving lives: National recommendations for CPR education, public access defibrillators, and long-term support for survivors and their families.
- Paediatrics: Updated hand positioning for infant CPR and enhanced guidance on managing critical illness in infants and children, including special situations and post-resuscitation care.
- Newborn resuscitation and support of transition of infants at birth: Updated guidance on assessment, airway and breathing management, use of supplemental oxygen, resuscitation drugs, and new out-of-hospital guidance.”2
Stewart First Aid Training is updating all training programmes so that from February 2026 onward, all courses reflect the new national standards. To book your 2026 training dates, call 0800 16 32 09 or visit our website: https://www.stewartfirstaid.com/.
Sources
1. “RCUK Publishes 2025 Guidelines,” Resuscitation Council UK website: https://www.resus.org.uk/about-us/news-and-events/rcuk-publishes-guidelines-2025. Accessed 10 November 2025.
2. Ibid. The key changes to the 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines are reproduced with the kind permission of Resuscitation Council UK.
