Studies have shown that Hands-Only CPR is just as effective as conventional CPR with breaths when given in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest. Hands-Only CPR is a public awareness campaign to get more people to act when they encounter a cardiac arrest. It is the starting point to get more people to learn CPR.
Studies have found that in addition to being less complicated, CPR without rescue breaths may even be more effective than CPR with mouth-to-mouth because continuous chest compressions alone have been shown to sustain blood circulation more effectively for people in cardiac arrest.
If possible and with minimal interruption, swap between doing mouth-to-mouth and compressions so you can keep going with effective compressions. If you can't give breaths, doing compressions only without stopping may still save a life.
Standardized terminology helps improve communication and accuracy in emergency response education. The 2025 Guidelines clarify the distinction between breaths and ventilations to ensure consistency in training and guidelines. To simplify nomenclature, the term rescue breaths is no longer used.
Give two breaths after every 30 chest compressions. If two people are doing CPR, give 1 to 2 breaths after every 15 chest compressions. Continue CPR until you see signs of life or until medical help arrives.
Improper chest compressions (too slow, too fast, or not deep enough) can do more harm than good. People make this mistake mainly because of fear of hurting the victim's lungs or crushing their ribs.
The 3 R's in CPR stand for Recognize, Respond, and Resuscitate. These three steps are crucial in saving a life during a cardiac emergency. When a person experiences cardiac arrest, every second counts, and understanding these three essential steps ensures that bystanders can take quick and effective action.
Last Update: August 21, 2025; Next update: 2028. Chest compressions are the most important part of resuscitating someone. Also helping them to breathe by providing mouth-to mouth resuscitation is helpful, but not absolutely necessary.
A Single Chain of Survival: A single streamlined model now applies to all cardiac arrest situations (i.e., applies to all ages and locations). Fundamentals of Ventilation: The use of breaths with chest compressions is recommended for both health care professionals and lay rescuers when they are willing and capable.
Vomiting is the most frequently encountered complication of CPR. If the victim starts to vomit, turn the head to the side and try to sweep out or wipe off the vomit. Continue with CPR. The spread of infection from the victim to the rescuer is exceedingly rare.
Gold standard CPR is combining rescue breaths and chest compressions, this gives the casualty the best chance of survival, however, compression-only-CPR is far better than doing nothing so if you are unable or unwilling to give breaths in the event of CPR being needed please give compressions to give that casualty a ...
Current Australian CPR guidelines (ANZCOR) focus on immediate action: call 000, start with 30 chest compressions (100-120/min, 5-6cm deep) followed by 2 rescue breaths, aiming for high-quality compressions with minimal interruptions, and use an AED as soon as available, all while following the essential steps of DRSABCD (Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defibrillation). Hands-only CPR (compressions only) is strongly encouraged if you can't/won't do breaths.
Remember the golden rules of first aid: prioritise safety, assess the situation, and victim, call for help, control bleeding, treat for shock, be mindful of head and spinal injuries, and attend to burns.
How long should I perform CPR before stopping? Some say that performing CPR for over 20 minutes doesn't provide any results, and it should be stopped. However, recent studies document that patients who receive 30+ minutes of CPR have a higher chance of survival.
Chest compression mimics heart contractions and mouth-to-mouth mimics breathing, by delivering oxygen to the lungs via the mouth. CPR is the second link in the Chain of Survival. It is the link that can buy life-saving time between the first (early access to emergency care) and third link (early defibrillation).
Studies have shown that Hands-Only CPR is just as effective as conventional CPR with breaths when given in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest. Hands-Only CPR is a public awareness campaign to get more people to act when they encounter a cardiac arrest. It is the starting point to get more people to learn CPR.
For adult victims, it is not necessary to provide mouth-to-mouth during CPR. If you are comfortable providing mouth-to-mouth and are confident that you can do so successfully, deliver two breaths after every 30 compressions. In children and infants, the ratio is the same two breaths for every 30 chest compressions.
New guidance on choking in conscious children and adults recommends alternating five back blows followed by five abdominal thrusts, until the object is expelled or the person becomes unresponsive.
Here are a Few of the Warning Signs CPR Might Be Needed:
Imagine a 911 caller without any CPR training. Pushing hard and fast on the chest is simpler to describe compared to adding in effective breaths. That means a bystander can begin good chest compressions immediately. And time saved can mean a life saved!
Here are the most important changes introduced in the 2025 AHA update:
The most famous example is the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive," which has a BPM of 103 — right in the recommended range.
If death is apparent, you should not continue performing CPR. CPR is meant for those in cardiac arrest. Instances such as catastrophic injuries, rigor mortis, a body being cold to the touch, and lividity render CPR useless. Bodies will only be cold and have rigor mortis if they have been dead for hours.
The three emergency action steps are often represented as the three Cs: check, call, care.
Recommended Procedure: “For these reasons, we believe it is appropriate to recommend the following: in case of vomiting, turn the victim onto their side, perform a finger sweep if needed, return the victim to their back, and restart CPR with chest compressions, beginning a new cycle regardless of the number of ...