Italian Resuscitation Council (IRC) is a scientific non-profit organization born in 1994 with the primary purpose of spreading the culture and organization of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Italy. The association involves physicians from different disciplines and nurses actively engaged in the management of out- and in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The activity of IRC is integrated with that of similar Italian and foreign associations and in particular with the European Resuscitation Council. The IRC network included 6.000 doctors and nurses, 4.000 basic course instructors and 1.250 advanced course instructors. The IRC network included adult and pediatric courses with above 110.000 healthcare professionals trained yearly. IRC pursues the following aims: • to disseminate guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) throughout the national territory; • to participate in the process of update of CPR guidelines in all national and international locations; • to promote quality assurance and quality control activities for resuscitation practices; • to promote care and professional update through annual National Congresses and courses; • to provide systems for verifying the quality of the activities carried out; • to develop and/or adapt national resuscitation training programs to all potential users, from common citizens to health professionals, and, in agreement with internationally recognized scientific organizations in order to assure accreditation of operators and institutions; • to promote and coordinate research activities; • to establish a monitoring body for the quality control and review of the theoretical and practical aspects of the RCP; • to promote and disseminate awareness in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid with the most appropriate tools to all the operators in the field.