Legal and Regulatory Framework for Provision of First Aid and Education in First Aid in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Abstract

The likelihood of life recovery in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) critically depends on the speed of providing care. Basic bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation in case of OHCA and automatic external defibrillation greatly increase the chances of survival. To ensure a high level of readiness of the population to provide first aid (FA), effective legal regulation is required. The article presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the current regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation governing the provision of FA in case of OHCA, as well as domestic and foreign scientific publications dedicated to legal support in the field of FA. In particular, the issues of protection of persons providing FA from legal liability in case of harm to the victim are discussed, the obligations established by the legislation to provide FA and train FA, suggestions are made to optimize the relevant legal framework in order to increase the efficiency of first aid for OHCA and reduce mortality from OHCA in Russia.

Keywords

• cardiac arrest
• first aid
• cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• training
• legislation
• law
• liability
• responsibilities
• motivation