About Us

Since forming in 1992, Back to Life has established itself as a leading training provider in the UK, specialising in basic & advanced resuscitation and first aid training.

We have a team of over 60 highly professional trainers, who have a wealth of knowledge and experience in both the subject they teach and their ability to impart their knowledge and skills to others.

We provide a wide range of courses, designed to give our delegates the necessary skills to help recognise and manage emergencies in the workplace or home. Our in-depth training is both stimulating and varied with a strong emphasis on simulations based education (SBE)

Client satisfaction is of primary importance, therefore all of our courses are reviewed regularly to include the latest practices and ensure we meet our client's requirements.  

Each year Back to Life trains over 6000 delegates; the popularity and success of our courses are rooted in the emphasis on practical training, simulation and our investment in the professional development of our trainers.

Back to Life will continue to further develop its reputation as a business that delivers a quality service that helps our clients to deliver safer, better care as well as supporting them in being able to demonstrate that for the care quality commission (CQC).

Who’s Who at Back To Life?

Joanna Lawrence  RN MBA Fellow HEA - Chief Executive Officer

Joanna sits on the Executive Board of the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) and is also a member of the Immediate Life Support subcommittee.

As an educator for the RCUK and Advanced Life Support Group (ALSG) for their Generic Instructor's Course (GIC), Jo and the rest of the educator team are at the forefront of developing a range of life support courses so they are educational appropriate in their approach to adult learning.

Joanna has 25 years health service experience, in which she specialised in Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Trauma. As a Master of Business Management since 2002, Joanna is both clinically and managerially well placed as CEO of Back to Life Ltd. She is passionate about education and is involved with a number of voluntary projects overseas helping developing nations to optimise care in their challenging environments.

In 2016 Joanna was awarded her Higher Education Academy Fellowship and the Brighton University Award for Facilitating and Empowering learners.

As a Resuscitation Council (UK) instructor in Adult and Paediatric Resuscitation, she is well known for her principled approach and high standards teaching and learning. She is also known in the Resuscitation world for the part she played as the Project Lead and implementer of CPRO and her current involvement in helping to establish the Resuscitation Practitioners Forum (RPF) at the RCUK. Her portfolio is completed as graduate on the Coach Practitioner programme at Middlesex University through the I-coach academy.

Helen Briscoe RN MSc - Training Manager

After training as a nurse and working in Thoracic Surgery and Accident and Emergency, Helen joined Back to Life in 2000 as a resusicitation trainer, and in 2009 gained her master's degree in Teaching and Learning.  She is an ALS provider and an ILS instructor.  Helen's responsibilities focus on the quality and delivery of the courses Back to Life deliver as well as providing the links and support for  all the Back to Life trainers.  Her  interest in anaphylaxis not only makes her the companies expert, but has also enabled her to develop excellent online packages with Phil.  These e-learning courses allow us to provide flexible learning for our health professionals and teachers at a time and place that suits the individual

Phil Double BA Hons - Operations Director

Phil graduated from Kingston University where he studied Marketing Management.  Since joining Back to Life in 2009, Phil has been dedicated to providing an excellent service for our customers, and developing robust and reliable processes through which Back to Life carries out our day to day activities.  Phil has brought his eye for design and technical abilities to many aspects of the organisation; developing e-learning packages, websites, and social media to keep Back to Life accessible and engaging in a variety of exciting ways.

Paul Marlow, BA (Hons) Dip HE, RN. - Specialist Advisor in First Aid

Since taking on a role as a firefighter-medic with airport fire services in the late 1990s, Paul has developed a passion for first aid and advanced immediate care. Qualifying as a nurse and holding ALS Instructor, EPALS and PHTLS Provider status, Paul has held many roles across in-hospital and pre-hospital settings. He has worked as Senior Resuscitation Officer for a community mental health NHS Trust, currently clinically working part time as Resuscitation Officer for an acute NHS Trust, and volunteers with his local Lowland Search and Rescue team as Medical Lead, trainer and responding medic. He also provides event first aid and medical cover. As a subject specialist in resuscitation and first aid, Paul teaches and advises in first aid matters for NHS Trusts, pre-hospital medical providers, outdoor pursuit organisations and other corporate bodies. Writing policy and course materials, giving advice and guidance in the field of first aid and pre-hospital emergency care, Paul relishes the challenge of adapting first aid practice to unusual, remote and more regular environments: He is well-placed to provide specialist advice to Back to Life.

Richard Kerslake, BSc MBBA MRCPsych - Mental Health Advisor

Richard’s specialism in psychiatry has taken him around the world, including time spent in Australia, Sri Lanka and London, where he has experienced a range of approaches to training medical professionals. He has now settled in Sussex where he has spent a year as the Simulation Fellow at Brighton & Sussex Medical School. He is also heavily invested in developing the mental health simulation faculty in Sussex Partnership NHS Trust where his clinical practise takes place.
Richard has a specialist interest in using simulation training to help clinicians manage patients with personality disorders. He has also delivered a range of training on other topics, including Child & Adolescent Mental Health, Perinatal Mental Health and induction for doctors new to working in psychiatry.
Richard can be followed on Twitter @kss_sim