CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency technique to keep blood and oxygen flowing to the brain and heart when someone's heart stops or they stop breathing. CPR — started early by a bystander — doubles or triples the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. Every adult should know how to do it.

When to do CPR

Start CPR if someone:

• Is unresponsive (doesn't react to loud calling or tapping the shoulder)
• Isn't breathing, or is only gasping
• Doesn't have a pulse (or you can't feel one quickly — don't spend long checking)

Hands-Only CPR for adults

If you're untrained or hesitant about mouth-to-mouth, "hands-only" CPR is recommended — compressions alone are effective for the first several minutes of an adult cardiac arrest:

• 1. Call for help — dial 112 first. Put the phone on speaker. Send someone to find an automated external defibrillator (AED) if one might be available nearby.
• 2. Place the person on a firm surface (floor is ideal). Lie them on their back.
• 3. Kneel beside the chest. Place the heel of one hand on the centre of the chest (lower half of the breastbone). Place your other hand on top.
• 4. Push hard and fast. Press down at least 5 cm (but not more than 6 cm), allowing the chest to fully recoil between compressions. Rate: 100-120 per minute — roughly to the beat of the song "Stayin' Alive."
• 5. Don't stop until trained help takes over, an AED is ready, or the person starts breathing normally.
• Swap with another person every 2 minutes if possible — CPR is physically tiring and quality drops with fatigue.

If trained — add rescue breaths

Trained rescuers give 30 compressions, then 2 rescue breaths — tilting the head back to open the airway, pinching the nose, and blowing into the mouth until the chest rises. Continue the 30:2 cycle.

CPR in children

For children and infants, CPR technique is slightly different:

• Children — use one or two hands depending on size; compress about 5 cm or one-third chest depth
• Infants — use two fingers in the centre of the chest just below the nipple line; compress about 4 cm or one-third depth
• Rescue breaths are more important in children — their cardiac arrest is more often from breathing problems. Give breaths alongside compressions (30:2 or 15:2 with a second rescuer)
• Start CPR immediately if a child is unresponsive and not breathing normally

Automated External Defibrillator (AED)

An AED is a portable device that can restart a heart in certain rhythms. AEDs are becoming more common in Indian airports, metro stations, offices, and public spaces. They talk you through use — follow the voice prompts. Using an AED does NOT replace CPR; they work together.

Learning CPR

Hands-on training makes a real difference. Hospitals, the Indian Red Cross, St John Ambulance, fire-service outreach, and many corporate programmes offer basic life support (BLS) courses. An afternoon's training could let you save a life.