Peter O'Meara, the Melbourne-based BACS Service Quality Manager, recently attended a one-day first aid course. Basic Emergency Life Support (Level 1) provided the skills and knowledge required for Peter to recognise and respond to life-threatening emergencies in accordance with Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) Guidelines. Attendees were instructed on how to identify, assess and minimise immediate health and safety hazards to oneself and others. They learned how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and provide first aid, operating equipment per manufacturer’s instructions. Attention was also paid to proper communication of incident details to emergency response services and to workplace supervisors.