National CPR/AED Awareness Week: Step-by-step CPR Guide

By Carly Flumer, Volunteer

The first week of June is National CPR/AED Awareness Week, and the Red Cross wants you to know how to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) when an emergency occurs. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide that you can print and take with you.

Before giving CPR:

1. Check the scene to make sure it’s safe. Then tap the person and shout, “Are you okay,” to make sure that the person needs help.
2. Call 911 for assistance. If help is required, call (or ask a bystander to call) 911, then send someone to get an AED. If an AED is not available or there is no bystander to assist, stay with the victim and begin giving assistance.
3. Open the airway by having the person lay on his or her back. Tilt the head back slightly to lift the chin.
4. Listen carefully for breathing, but no more than 10 seconds. (Occasional gasping sounds do not equal breathing). If there’s no breathing, begin CPR.

 Red Cross CPR Steps

1. Push hard and fast by placing your hands, one on top of the other, in the middle of the chest. Use your body weight to help you administer 30 compressions that are at least two inches deep and delivered at a rate of 100 compressions per minute.
2. With the person’s head tilted back slightly and the chin lifted, deliver rescue breaths by pinching the nose shut and placing your moth over the person’s mouth to make a complete seal. Blow into the person’s mouth to make the chest rise. Deliver two rescue breaths and then continue compressions. (Note: If the chest doesn’t rise with the initial rescue breath, re-tilt the head before delivering the second breath. If the chest doesn’t rise with the second breath, then the person may be choking. After each subsequent set of 30 chest compressions, and before attempting breath, look for an object and remove it, if  seen.) 
3. Continue CPR steps. Keep performing cycles of chest compressions and breathing until the person begins breathing, an AED becomes available, or an EMS or a trained medical responder arrives. (Note: End the cycle if the scene becomes unsafe or you can’t continue performing CPR due to exhaustion.)

To find a CPR training course, visit here: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr/cpr-training