Key TakeawaysRecognizing that someone needs CPR and being able to do it properly can be the difference between life and death.If someone is breathing, they do not need CPR.You don’t have to be a healthcare professional to give CPR. Training is available through the American Heart Association and Red Cross.

Key Takeaways

Recognizing that someone needs CPR and being able to do it properly can be the difference between life and death.If someone is breathing, they do not need CPR.You don’t have to be a healthcare professional to give CPR. Training is available through the American Heart Association and Red Cross.

Knowing how to tell if someone needs CPR and being able to give it can buy a person time before emergency responders arrive—sometimes, it’s the difference between life and death. But not everyone knows when it’s appropriate or what to do.

Here’s how to quickly assess whether or not someone is a candidate for CPR.

Women Get Bystander CPR Less Than Men

What Happens When Someone Goes Into Cardiac Arrest?

Cardiac arrest means that the heart stops pumping blood to the rest of the body. Someone who is in cardiac arrest will have no pulse.

A person can go into cardiac arrest for many reasons, including:

Cardiac Arrest vs. Heart AttackA heart attack is not the same as cardiac arrest—however, a person who has had a heart attack may go into cardiac arrest.

Cardiac Arrest vs. Heart Attack

A heart attack is not the same as cardiac arrest—however, a person who has had a heart attack may go into cardiac arrest.

What Does CPR Do?

When a person goes into cardiac arrest, blood isn’t getting to the rest of their body. That means no oxygen is circulating to the organs and tissues.The brain is the first organ to feel the effects of the lack of oxygen. Brain cells start to die within minutes and prolonged cardiac arrest can cause irreversible brain damage.

Even if a person does not survive, doing CPR may serve another purpose: Helping to keep their organs viable if they’re a donor.

How Effective Is CPR?

If someone gets CPR and does survive cardiac arrest, they may still have a reduced quality of life or have lingering health problems, like severe fatigue, anxiety, and depression. If they were older or already had chronic health conditions, they may have even lower chances of survival.

Signs of Cardiac Arrest

When Should You Perform CPR?

If you witness someone going into cardiac arrest, the most important thing is to stay calm and assess the situation.

“When a person is in duress you will want to access the scene first, checking for any safety or hazards that may be harmful to you,” Zack Zarrilli, a paramedic and the founder ofSureFireCPR.com, told Verywell.

After you’ve determined it’s safe to help, Zarrilli says the next step is to “tap the person’s shoulder, and shout ‘Are you OK?’ while looking for normal breathing.”

If the person is conscious and breathing, they do not need CPR. However, if there is no response and the person is not breathing, Zarrilli says to make sure the person “is lying on a firm and flat surface facing upwards” and then start giving them CPR.

Even if someone is unresponsive and not breathing and still has a pulse, it probably isn’t strong enough to pump blood or it won’t last very long.

If you are alone, call 911 before starting chest compressions.Your goal is to get EMS on the way as soon as possible. Paramedics have medical devices that use electrical currents to correct abnormal heart rhythms (defibrillators). They’re also trained to give cardiac medications.

If there are other people around, point to a specific person and make eye contact with them. In a clear voice, tell them to “Call 911.” If there’s someone else around, you can tell them to look foran automated external defibrillator (AED), which anyone can use.

How to Do CPR

How to Do CPR Chest Compressions

Once you’ve determined that a person needs CPR and it’s safe for you to try to help, you canstart giving chest compressions.

To get blood moving around the person’s body effectively, chest compressions need to be done at a rate of at least 100 beats per minute. To keep that rhythm, think of the beat of these songs:

Doing high-quality chest compressions is physically exhausting. If someone else is around to help, you can switch after you’ve done 30 compressions.

Do You Have to Do Mouth-to-Mouth CPR?After you do a set of 30 compressions, you can take no more than 10 seconds to give a person two rescue breaths. Rescue breathing is when you breathe air into a person’s mouth to give them oxygen.Healthcare providers will usually place masks over the patient’s mouth when they are giving air during CPR, and you can buy these masks to have on hand. However, if you’re in a situation where someone needs CPR, you don’t have a mask, and you’re not comfortable giving them mouth-to-mouth, that’s OK.You donothave to give rescue breaths when you’re doing CPR. Doing chest compressions alone will circulate the oxygen that is in the body until help arrives.Hands-only CPR is better than no CPR at all.

Do You Have to Do Mouth-to-Mouth CPR?

After you do a set of 30 compressions, you can take no more than 10 seconds to give a person two rescue breaths. Rescue breathing is when you breathe air into a person’s mouth to give them oxygen.Healthcare providers will usually place masks over the patient’s mouth when they are giving air during CPR, and you can buy these masks to have on hand. However, if you’re in a situation where someone needs CPR, you don’t have a mask, and you’re not comfortable giving them mouth-to-mouth, that’s OK.You donothave to give rescue breaths when you’re doing CPR. Doing chest compressions alone will circulate the oxygen that is in the body until help arrives.Hands-only CPR is better than no CPR at all.

After you do a set of 30 compressions, you can take no more than 10 seconds to give a person two rescue breaths. Rescue breathing is when you breathe air into a person’s mouth to give them oxygen.

Healthcare providers will usually place masks over the patient’s mouth when they are giving air during CPR, and you can buy these masks to have on hand. However, if you’re in a situation where someone needs CPR, you don’t have a mask, and you’re not comfortable giving them mouth-to-mouth, that’s OK.

You donothave to give rescue breaths when you’re doing CPR. Doing chest compressions alone will circulate the oxygen that is in the body until help arrives.Hands-only CPR is better than no CPR at all.

How Organ Donation Works

When Should You Not Do CPR?

If someone is conscious and breathing, they don’t need CPR. There are also some specific situations when you should not try to give CPR.

The first is when it would put you in danger. You might be thinking more about trying to help someone, but you need to consider your own safety first.

Can Kids Get CPR?

Another situation is when a person would notwantto get CPR. For example, people with end-stage chronic health conditions may have made a decision with their providers that if they go into cardiac arrest, they do not want any life-sustaining efforts made to save them. This is called ado-not-resuscitate (DNR) order. If you have evidence that someone has a DNR (such as a form from their medical record or a medical alert bracelet), you should not do CPR on them.

That said, in CPR training, you’ll be told that since a person in cardiac arrest is unconscious, they can’t tell you what they want or don’t want. If you do not know for a fact that they do not want CPR and you don’t have evidence (like a DNR), thenyou have to assume they would want help.

How to Learn CPRTheAmerican Heart Associationand theAmerican Red Crossoffer CPR and AED training for adults, children, and infants. You can do full training in-person or do hybrid courses that combineonlinelearning and a skills evaluation with a trainer. You can also learn other life-saving skills like First Aid. Many workplaces and community first response teams also may offer CPR training.

How to Learn CPR

TheAmerican Heart Associationand theAmerican Red Crossoffer CPR and AED training for adults, children, and infants. You can do full training in-person or do hybrid courses that combineonlinelearning and a skills evaluation with a trainer. You can also learn other life-saving skills like First Aid. Many workplaces and community first response teams also may offer CPR training.

9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Heart Association.CPR facts and stats.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Cardiac arrest - causes and risk factors.American Red Cross.Heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest differences.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What Is cardiac arrest?.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Cerebral hypoxia.Morrison LJ, Sandroni C, Grunau B, et al.Organ donation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A scientific statement rfom the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.Circulation. 2023;148(10). doi:https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000001125BMJ.Patients overestimate the success of CPR.Sasson C, Rogers MA, Dahl J, Kellermann AL.Predictors of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(1):63-81. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.109.889576Libungan B, Lindqvist J, Strömsöe A, et al.Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the elderly: A large-scale population-based study.Resuscitation. 2015;94:28-32. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.05.031

9 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Heart Association.CPR facts and stats.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Cardiac arrest - causes and risk factors.American Red Cross.Heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest differences.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What Is cardiac arrest?.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Cerebral hypoxia.Morrison LJ, Sandroni C, Grunau B, et al.Organ donation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A scientific statement rfom the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.Circulation. 2023;148(10). doi:https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000001125BMJ.Patients overestimate the success of CPR.Sasson C, Rogers MA, Dahl J, Kellermann AL.Predictors of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(1):63-81. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.109.889576Libungan B, Lindqvist J, Strömsöe A, et al.Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the elderly: A large-scale population-based study.Resuscitation. 2015;94:28-32. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.05.031

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Heart Association.CPR facts and stats.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Cardiac arrest - causes and risk factors.American Red Cross.Heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest differences.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What Is cardiac arrest?.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Cerebral hypoxia.Morrison LJ, Sandroni C, Grunau B, et al.Organ donation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A scientific statement rfom the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.Circulation. 2023;148(10). doi:https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000001125BMJ.Patients overestimate the success of CPR.Sasson C, Rogers MA, Dahl J, Kellermann AL.Predictors of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(1):63-81. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.109.889576Libungan B, Lindqvist J, Strömsöe A, et al.Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the elderly: A large-scale population-based study.Resuscitation. 2015;94:28-32. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.05.031

American Heart Association.CPR facts and stats.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Cardiac arrest - causes and risk factors.

American Red Cross.Heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest differences.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What Is cardiac arrest?.

National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Cerebral hypoxia.

Morrison LJ, Sandroni C, Grunau B, et al.Organ donation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A scientific statement rfom the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.Circulation. 2023;148(10). doi:https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000001125

BMJ.Patients overestimate the success of CPR.

Sasson C, Rogers MA, Dahl J, Kellermann AL.Predictors of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(1):63-81. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.109.889576

Libungan B, Lindqvist J, Strömsöe A, et al.Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the elderly: A large-scale population-based study.Resuscitation. 2015;94:28-32. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.05.031

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