CORE Skills is for responders who are health professionals who require practical and theoretical skills of resuscitation. There is no assessment. Learners do not receive a certificate but do receive a Confirmation of Attendance.

How is CORE Skills obtained?

CORE Skills providers learners with an opportunity to develop practical skills in resuscitation, facilitated by self-directed learning and face-to-face training. The components of the face-to-face are taken from CORE Advanced and tailored to learners' needs.

1. Self-directed Learning 

A learner will contact a CORE provider to organise their face-to-face training. Before attending the face-to-face training, there is a minimum period during which the learner will be expected to acquire the necessary theory with pre-reading.

CORE Skills learners should have access to Resuscitation – A Guide for Advanced Rescuers at least one week before their face-to-face training. This manual contains the theory and knowledge directly applicable to the course and is available from our shop

2. Face-to-face Training 

Face-to-face training is delivered by one or more CORE instructors who have been certified by the New Zealand Resuscitation Council.

Face-to-face training focuses on two areas:

1. The practical skills of resuscitation
2. Scenarios for the management of collapse and medical emergencies.

The training should also provide the learner with ample opportunity for discussion.

Face-to-face training is designed to enable a mix of health professionals to work in teams, just as they might in real life. Although the final learner mix will be tailored as required, the New Zealand Resuscitation Council advocates for multi-disciplinary courses wherever feasible.

Flexibility of delivery

Any component of CORE Advanced may be provided (excluding the knowledge assessment) depending on the learners’ needs. We suggest that, at a minimum, CORE Skills include the skill stations Adult Collapse Management and Defibrillation (AED) and one or more scenarios on adult cardiac arrest (minimum 2 hours). 

CORE Skills may be completed in one day or spaced out over a number of days, evenings or even weeks. This flexibility allows the course to be completed in circumstances where learners are unable to attend full-day practical courses, and allows the content to be incorporated into broader courses covering additional material.

Content

Face-to-face training will be delivered as a series of modules covering the essential practical skills of resuscitation. Four skill stations are based around four key management guidelines, while four sets of scenarios focus on adult collapse, child collapse, and injury.

Skill stations on CORE Skills

Select skill stations from the following may be included on CORE Skills.

Adult collapse management plan

Following this skill station the learner will be able to demonstrate a DRS ABCD management plan for adult collapse, both as a lone responder and in a team of two.

Skills will include:

• Following an adult collapse algorithm sequence
• Manually opening the airway using head extension and chin lift
• Assessing breathing and circulation
• Expired air ventilation
• Chest compression.

Child and infant collapse management plan

Following this skill station the learner will be able to demonstrate a DRS ABCD management plan for child collapse and infant collapse, both as a lone responder and in a team of two.

Skills will include:

• Following a child and infant collapse algorithm sequence
• Manually opening the airway using head extension and chin lift
• Assessing breathing and circulation
• Ventilating children using mouth-to-mouth ventilation in children
• Ventilating infants using mouth-to-nose-and-mouth and mouth-to-nose
• Chest compression (hand, finger and encircling grip).

All learners will learn all components of the child collapse management plan.

AED defibrillation

Following this skill station the learner will be able to demonstrate the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) on a collapsed person.

Manual defibrillation

Following this skill station the learner will be able to demonstrate the use of a manual defibrillator on a collapsed person and be able to distinguish the following cardiac rhythms:

1. Sinus Rhythm
2. Sinus Tachycardia
3. Supraventricular Tachycardia
4. Sinus Bradycardia
5. Ventricular Tachycardia
6. Ventricular Fibrillation
7. Asystole.

Initial approach to trauma

Following this skill station, the learner will be able to use a DRSABCDE sequence to guide the primary survey and early management of the critically-injured adult. The principles covered will include: 

• Positioning the person
• In-line bi-manual cervical immobilisation
• Manually opening the airway while maintaining C-spine control
• Using airway adjuncts
• Needle thoracocentesis and finger thoracostomy for tension pneumothorax 
• Covering open pneumothoraces
• Controlling external bleeding with compression / tourniquet
• Establishing intravenous access.

Management of airway obstruction and breathing

Following this skill station the learner will be able to demonstrate the effective management of airway obstruction and breathing in the person with apnoea. Skills will include:

• Assess airway obstruction, apnoea and ineffective breathing
• Position the head and neck optimally for airway control
• Apply manual manoeuvres, including jaw thrust to maintain an open airway
• Perform oropharyngeal suction of the upper airway using a portable suction unit
• Perform mouth-to-mask ventilation
• Correctly apply a facemask, and deliver single and dual operator-assisted bag-to-mask controlled ventilation to an adult
• Determine the need for, and apply, manually-assisted ventilation using a bag-to-mask device
• Deliver oxygen from an oxygen cylinder, and connect this supply to a manual inflation bag
• Correctly size and insert oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airways
• Correctly size and insert a laryngeal mask airway.

Scenario sets on CORE Skills

Select scenarios from the following scenario sets may be included on CORE Skills.

Adult collapse

After this scenario set the learner will be able to:

• Demonstrate a DRS ABCD approach when responding to a collapsed adult
• Prioritise the integration of interventions, in particular to focus on early defibrillation
• Establish team behavior and understand its importance
• Manage common adult cardiac arrest scenarios.

Child or infant collapse

After this scenario set, the learner will be able to:

• Demonstrate a DRS ABCD approach when responding to a collapsed child or infant
• Prioritise the integration of interventions
• Establish team behavior and understand its importance
• Manage common child and infant collapse scenarios.

Initial approach to trauma

After this scenario set, the learner will be able to:

• Manage a seriously-injured person in accordance with the principles of the primary survey
• Demonstrate the recommended techniques for airway access and management in head injury
• Apply the principles of care recommended for the management of resuscitation in special circumstances.

Management of medical emergencies

After this scenario set, the learner will be able to:

• Recognise and manage a deteriorating patient, including one with anaphylaxis, and initiate and prioritise care
• Communicate effectively and understand the importance of, and establish, team behaviour.

3. Confirmation of Attendance 

Clinical implications of the CORE Skills Confirmation of Attendance

The New Zealand Resuscitation Council makes the following statements in relation to the CORE Skills Confirmation of Attendance:

1. Successful completion of CORE Skills does not qualify the learner to perform, or indicate that the learner is competent to perform, the skills of resuscitation in the clinical setting. The application of certification to indicate clinical competence must be decided solely by the clinical institution within which the learner practices.
2. The material taught as part of CORE Skills may not correspond exactly to that which the learner is permitted to practice in his or her own clinical institution. The final clinical application of these skills is solely at the discretion of the clinical institution concerned.

Recognition of prior learning

Learners should have the prior skills and theoretical knowledge necessary to complete CORE. Because the New Zealand Resuscitation Council considers that all learners should complete the entire course for their skill level, there is no specific recognition of prior learning for CORE courses.

Certification and cross-crediting

CORE Skills learners shall receive a Confirmation of Attendance dated from the date of their face-to-face training.

The New Zealand Resuscitation Council and Australian Resuscitation Council recognise CORE certification provided from each council's course as equivalent for the purposes of professional or workplace credentialing. CORE Skills is not equivalent to CORE certification, therefore this provision does not apply to CORE Skills. 

No other courses are currently recognised for cross-crediting purposes.