The effectiveness even of the best organized emergency medical services (EMS) system depends on the level of knowledge and the abilities of those persons who are the first at the scene. Only on few occasions will that be a physician specialist in resuscitology. So it seems necessary to educate and train laymen, medical students, and physicians in life saving methods. This should be done in a uniform way concerning organization and contents. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), we try to perform this task on a nationwide basis.