Humanity · Push Hard, Push Fast

Learn it in 10 minutes · it doubles someone's chance to live

Push hard. Push fast.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people collapse from cardiac arrest outside a hospital. Most of them die — not because CPR is hard, but because the people around them freeze. Untrained bystanders who act roughly double a victim's chance of survival. This page teaches you the one skill that matters, and lets you practice the rhythm.

Someone collapses. Do this.

Adult suddenly collapses, doesn't respond, isn't breathing normally. Four steps — nothing else matters:

1

Check response and breathing

Shake their shoulders firmly and shout their name. No response? Call 112 immediately on speaker and check their breathing while the call connects. Occasional gasps, snorts, or gurgles are NOT breathing — this "agonal gasping" happens in about half of cardiac arrests and fools most bystanders. Not responding and not breathing normally means: act now.

2

Call 112 — on speaker

Call the emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in North America) and put the phone on speaker next to you. The operator will talk you through everything. If other people are around, point at one person: "You — call 112. You — find an AED." Pointing works; asking the crowd doesn't.

3

Push hard and fast, center of the chest

Kneel beside them. Heel of one hand on the center of the breastbone, other hand on top, arms straight, shoulders above your hands. Push 5–6 cm deep, 100–120 times per minute — the beat of "Stayin' Alive". Let the chest come all the way back up between pushes. Don't stop, don't check, just push. Getting tired? Swap with someone every 2 minutes.

4

Use the AED the moment it arrives

An AED (defibrillator — the box with a heart-and-lightning logo on walls of shops, stations, offices) is built for people who've never touched one. Open it and it talks to you. Stick the pads where the pictures show, and it decides everything else. The AED analyses the rhythm and advises whether a shock is needed. Nobody should touch the person during analysis or a shock. Keep pushing between its instructions.

That's the whole skill

No rescue breaths, no pulse checks, no counting rituals. For an adult who suddenly collapses, guidelines for untrained bystanders are exactly this: call, push, AED. You keep going until professionals take over, an AED tells you otherwise, or the person wakes up.

Practice the rhythm

The most common mistake is pushing too slowly and too softly. Get the tempo into your hands now — your body will remember it when your mind is panicking. Press start and push against a couch cushion in rhythm.

PUSH
110 BPM

100–120 per minute. Songs in this tempo: "Stayin' Alive", "Dancing Queen", "Macarena". After 2 minutes you'll feel why rescuers swap.

The fears that kill

Bystanders don't fail because CPR is complicated. They fail because of four thoughts — all wrong:

"What if I break their ribs?"

CPR can cause injuries, including broken ribs, but prompt CPR can save someone in cardiac arrest. Follow the dispatcher’s instructions.

"What if they didn't need it and I hurt them?"

Start CPR when the person is unresponsive and not breathing normally. The risk of serious harm from a mistaken attempt is low. If they show signs of life and breathe normally, stop compressions and reassess with the dispatcher.

"What if I get sued?"

Legal duties and protections vary by country and circumstances; this page cannot promise immunity. Call emergency services, follow their instructions and help within your abilities.

"Someone more qualified will step in."

Everyone in the crowd is thinking exactly that. It's called the bystander effect, and it's lethal. The most qualified person present is the one who moves.

Choking: the other 4 minutes

Someone clutches their throat at the dinner table. The test is one question: can they cough or make sound?

A

They can cough or speak

Their airway is only partly blocked. Encourage them to keep coughing — it's the most effective force there is. Don't slap their back yet, don't give them water. Stay with them and watch.

B

Silent, can't cough, turning grey or blue

Fully blocked. Lean them forward and give 5 sharp blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. Still stuck? Stand behind them, fist above the navel, other hand over it, and pull sharply inward and upward — 5 times (abdominal thrusts). Alternate 5 blows, 5 thrusts. Have someone call 112.

C

They go limp

Lower them to the floor and start chest compressions — the same push-hard-push-fast you just learned. Compressions can also dislodge the object. Keep going until help arrives.

Afterwards

Anyone who received abdominal thrusts should see a doctor the same day, even if they feel fine — the thrusts can cause internal bruising that needs a check.

Unconscious but breathing? Different plan.

Not every collapse is cardiac arrest. If they don't respond but are breathing normally — chest rising steadily, no gasping — you don't push. You protect the airway:

→

The recovery position

Roll them onto their side, top leg bent forward so they can't roll back, head tilted slightly back and facing a little downward so the tongue falls forward and anything in the mouth drains out — an unconscious person on their back can silently suffocate on their own tongue or vomit. Then call 112 and keep watching the breathing: if the gasping starts or the breathing stops, roll them onto their back and start compressions.

Same rule if they come back

If the person starts breathing normally during CPR — it happens — stop compressions, put them in the recovery position, and stay until the ambulance takes over. They can arrest again; you're not done watching.

Children and babies: what changes

Everything on this page is the adult technique, and doing the adult technique on a child still beats doing nothing. The main differences, in one breath:

Child (1 year to puberty)

For an unresponsive child who is not breathing normally, call 112 on speaker. Give five initial rescue breaths, then 30 compressions and two breaths; use 15:2 if specifically trained in paediatric CPR. Use one or two hands, pressing about one third of the chest depth (about 5 cm), at 100–120/min. Follow the dispatcher.

Baby (under 1 year)

For infant CPR, give five initial rescue breaths and use both thumbs on the lower half of the breastbone, with your hands around the chest and fingers supporting the back. Press about one third of the chest depth (about 4 cm), at 100–120/min; continue 30:2, or 15:2 if specifically trained. For a conscious choking infant with an ineffective cough, call for help and alternate up to five back blows with up to five sharp chest thrusts using the two-thumb encircling technique. Never give abdominal thrusts. Stop the blows/thrusts once relieved; if unresponsive, start paediatric CPR. Follow the dispatcher.

A children's first-aid course takes an afternoon and is the single best investment a parent or grandparent can make. This page can't replace it — go book one.

Do this today, while nobody needs you

Knowing the steps is half of it. The other half is thirty minutes of preparation that make you dramatically faster on the day:

  1. Find your three nearest AEDs right now. One near home, one near work, one at your gym or club — the wall box you've walked past a hundred times. In an arrest you have no time to search; knowing costs you nothing today.
  2. Practice the rhythm above until it feels automatic. Two minutes on a couch cushion, once. Muscle memory survives panic; facts often don't.
  3. Put your address on your phone's lock screen and set up its emergency info (medical ID). When someone calls 112 for you, the answers are right there.
  4. Show this page to your household tonight. The person most likely to do CPR on you lives with you. Their ten minutes of reading is your survival plan.
  5. Book a real course. Half a day with a mannequin and an instructor turns "I read about it once" into "I've done it." Red Cross and heart foundations run them everywhere, cheaply or free.

The drill: would you act right?

Ten split-second decisions. Pick what you'd actually do — the explanations are where the learning happens.

The fridge card

Print this. Stick it where the household will see it.

  1. If unresponsive, call 112 immediately on speaker. Check breathing while the call connects.
  2. Unresponsive and not breathing normally: start CPR. Gasping is not normal breathing. Follow the dispatcher.
  3. Adult compressions: centre of chest, 5–6 cm deep, 100–120/min. Let the chest recoil. Swap rescuers about every two minutes.
  4. Use the AED and follow its prompts. Nobody touches the person during rhythm analysis or a shock. Resume CPR as instructed.
  5. Unresponsive but breathing normally: protect the airway, follow the dispatcher and keep watching breathing.
  6. Adult choking with ineffective cough: up to five back blows, then up to five abdominal thrusts. Stop when cleared. Call for help; if unresponsive, begin CPR.
  7. This card is for adults. Babies and children need the paediatric guidance above.

Last updated

Written with AI assistance from published guidance and public sources. General information — not advice about your particular situation.

Sources and further reading

These references cover the page’s subject. They do not establish that every statement, translation or tool calculation has been professionally validated. Check each source’s country and scope: legal rules, services and treatment protocols may differ locally. Links retain the publishers’ original titles.

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