Press Release: CALL FOR A NATIONAL POLICY ON CIVIL LIFE-SAVING FORMATION

19/07/2026

THE MALTA RESUSCITATION COUNCIL CALLS FOR A NATIONAL POLICY ON CIVIL LIFE-SAVING FORMATION

The Malta Resuscitation Council reiterates its commitment to the introduction of a national policy on life-saving training for the general public, starting from children within their school years and at set stages thereafter. It is unfortunate that we have to be discussing this only after tragedies occur.

The Council has worked incessantly with the Education Health and Safety department to reach more than 1,900 students and 986 Educators between awareness courses and formal Basic Life Support courses in 2025, spread over 88 sessions in different schools around Malta. Nonetheless, CPR training remains absent from the Maltese National Curriculum. Statistics show that in countries where basic life support is taught in schools across the board, survival rates are two to three times higher.

“Having CPR training enshrined into the National Curriculum will guarantee Malta with generations of life-savers empowered to act promptly wherever and whenever a cardiac arrest hits, driving survival rates up.

- Malta Resuscitation Council

Two years ago the Malta Resuscitation Council has also secured the presence of the illustrated animated book “CALL 112 FIBRILLU” on every school laptop desktop. It guides children and their families through the steps of saving a life. Open it and read it together.

The Malta Resuscitation Council has also supported the initiative of the European Resuscitation Council, to which it is affiliated, in strengthening the relevance of life-saving skills in the European Driving License Directive. In November 2025, the European Commission adopted a revised Directive, introducing a new requirement for new drivers to have knowledge of first aid and CPR. Specifically, driving theory tests are to include questions on basic first aid and CPR knowledge. Currently, 12 EU Member States have made Basic Life Support (BLS) course mandatory to obtain a category B driving

license. Training for all motor-vehicle drivers would ensure another group of life-savers in one of Malta’s highest accidental fatality group.

The Malta Resuscitation Council would also wish to reach-out to the bystanders who have provided CPR in the most recent cases we had. Your action matters independent of the outcome. You were there to be counted. Nonetheless the emotions related to being either a cardiac arrest survivor or a co-survivor, meaning a person who has cared for a person in cardiac arrest or provided initial life- saving assistance, can be heavy. For this reason, the Council has recently launched the Cardiac Arrest Survivor Network, a peer-to-peer support for people who have come directly across cardiac arrest, as patients or as life-savers.

The latest local data shows that provision of bystander CPR is just under 40%. This in a country where it is rare to be alone. Basic Life Support training teaches you to recognize cardiac arrest and the simple steps to act and keep blood circulating to the brain by provision of good-quality chest compressions till professional help comes. The longer time passes without starting CPR, the less the chance of survival. Seek to enroll in a training course from the many local NGO’s who provide it.