What is happening?

What to do

1. Check approaching is safe. If unresponsive, shout for help and call now on speaker.
2. No phone or signal: shout for help and assess breathing. If alone and nobody will come, summon emergency help as quickly as possible. Return and start CPR if still unresponsive and not breathing normally.
3. On their back: gently tilt the head back and lift the chin. Look, listen and feel for breathing for at most 10 seconds.
4. Gasps or slow, laboured breathing are abnormal. Unresponsive and not breathing normally: start compressions now. If uncertain, follow the dispatcher.
5. If breathing normally, do not compress. Without accident or injury, place on their side and watch breathing. Follow the dispatcher.
6. If the person does not respond and is not breathing normally, place the heel of one hand in the centre of the chest, on the lower half of the breastbone. Put your other hand on top and interlock your fingers. Keep your arms straight and your shoulders above your hands.
7. Press 5–6 cm, 100–120/min. Allow full recoil. Without rescue-breath training, keep compressing without pauses.
8. If trained in breaths: 30 compressions then 2 breaths. Head back, chin up, nose pinched, mouth sealed. Blow for 1 second until chest rises. After 2 attempts, resume compressions.
9. Ask someone else to bring an AED. Do not leave CPR to fetch it yourself.
10. AED available: switch on, attach pads to bare chest as pictured. Follow prompts. Nobody touches during analysis or shock. After either shock or no-shock advice, resume compressions immediately.
11. Continue until professional takeover, normal breathing or complete exhaustion. With another helper, change every 1–2 minutes with minimal pause. If normal breathing returns, monitor it.
12. Pregnancy: tell the dispatcher. Needed CPR is on the back, not the side. Do not delay compressions or AED. Uterine manoeuvres only by a trained helper.
13. Wet chest: dry the pad sites. Follow AED pictures, clear of breast tissue. A second helper continues CPR during pad application.
14. After injury, opening the airway and needed CPR take priority. Vomit blocking the mouth: roll to drain, recheck and restart CPR if breathing is abnormal. No blind finger sweep.