What We Do

Our student instructors, who are all Edinburgh medical students, are trained in basic life support skills both as part of their course and by our external Heartstart trainer. They then undergo further training in how to communicate and teach these skills effectively to others, including children.

Airway BreathingOur society run their own training evenings several times a year within the University, providing free-of-charge basic life support training to students and staff from across the University. Our instructors are also available to assist local school teachers who lead Heartstart training in their own schools.

Our principal goal is to increase the awareness of the importance of basic life support skills and to provide as many children and young people as possible with the skills to save a life. Our training follows the Heartstart curriculum laid out by the British Heart Foundation which is in turn based on the Resuscitation Council UK's guidelines.

BHF MagazineWhile we do have a formal structure, our aim is to make our teaching as relaxed and interactive as possible. We can achieve this using the extensive resources provided by the British Heart Foundation in the form of resuscitation practice mannequins and high quality teaching materials.

Please Note

We do not provide a First Aid certification service; our courses are aimed at increasing the level of knowledge of these essential skills to give our attendees the confidence to know how to make a difference in an emergency situation.