What to Do When Someone Stops Breathing: A Step-by-Step Guide

Knowing what to do when someone stops breathing is one of the most useful skills a person can carry. This guide gives you the sequence in order: check the scene, call for help, open the airway, start compressions, add breaths if you are trained, use an AED, adjust for children and drowning, and keep going until responders take over. You need no equipment or prior training to begin, and a phone is the only tool that matters in the first seconds. Hands-on certification makes every step faster and steadier under stress, but an untrained person who acts is far better than one who waits. Guideline details below reflect American Heart Association (AHA) and American Red Cross materials as of 2026, so confirm them against your current course materials.

Step 1: Check the Scene and the Person

Before you approach, look around for anything that could hurt you too: moving traffic, water, fire or smoke, downed wires or other electrical sources, and unstable surfaces such as a slope or broken glass. You are no use to the person if you become a second patient. Move them only if staying put is unsafe, for example if they are in a roadway or near a fire.

Once the area is safe, kneel beside the person, tap their shoulders firmly, and shout, "Are you okay?" Look for any response: speech, movement, a groan, opened eyes. If there is none, they are unresponsive.

Next, scan the chest for no more than 10 seconds. Normal breathing is a regular rise and fall. Do not spend longer than that trying to be certain, because every second without circulation matters.

Gasping is not breathing. Agonal breathing is an irregular, labored gasp, sometimes with a snoring or gurgling sound, that can occur in the first minutes of cardiac arrest. It is a sign of a failing brain and heart, not of adequate breathing. Many people see it and wrongly conclude the person is still breathing, which delays help. If the person is unresponsive and either not breathing or only gasping, treat it as no breathing and move straight to Step 2.

If the person is responsive and breathing normally, you do not need CPR. Stay with them, call 911 if something serious is going on, and keep watching their breathing.

Step 2: Call 911 and Get an AED

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that analyzes the heart's rhythm and, if needed, delivers a shock to help restore a normal rhythm. Emergency medical services (EMS) are the paramedics and EMTs dispatched through 911. You want both on the way as early as possible.

How you do this depends on who is around:

Alone with a phone: put the phone on speaker and call 911 before you begin care, so your hands stay free.

Others present: point at one specific person and say, "You, call 911." Point at another and say, "You, find an AED and bring it back." Pointing and naming a task works far better than asking the crowd for help.

Alone with no phone: shout for help. If no one comes, begin care and call as soon as you can.

Tell the dispatcher your exact location, including the address, cross streets, building name, or floor if you know them. Then say what happened and that the person is unresponsive and not breathing. Dispatchers are trained to coach you through CPR step by step, which is a real help if you have never done it.

Do not hang up until the dispatcher tells you to. Keep the phone on speaker beside you and follow their instructions while you work.

One caution: the call-first order above fits sudden collapse in adults. For drowning and other breathing-related emergencies, especially with a lone rescuer, the order can differ. Step 7 covers those cases.

Step 3: Position the Person and Open the Airway

Lay the person flat on their back on a firm, level surface. A floor or the ground is ideal. A bed or sofa is too soft for effective compressions. Kneel beside their chest so you can move easily between compressions and the airway.

To open the airway in an adult with no suspected spine injury, use the head-tilt, chin-lift:

Place one hand on the forehead and gently tilt the head back.

Place the fingertips of your other hand under the bony part of the chin.

Lift the chin forward so the tongue, which is the most common blockage in an unresponsive person, moves away from the back of the throat.

If you suspect a neck or spine injury, such as after a fall, diving accident, or car crash, use a jaw thrust instead. Kneel above the person's head, place your fingers on both sides of the jaw, and lift it forward without tilting the head. If the jaw thrust does not open the airway, switch to the head-tilt, chin-lift. An open airway matters more than the risk of a spinal injury.

Take a quick look inside the mouth. If you see an obvious object, such as food, a piece of a toy, or a dental appliance, remove only what you can see and reach. Avoid blind finger sweeps, which can push an object deeper. If there is nothing visible, do not waste time searching.

If you are untrained or have no barrier device, you may not be giving breaths at all, and that is fine. Positioning the person correctly still sets you up to start compressions without delay.

Step 4: Start Chest Compressions

Compressions are the core of CPR. They manually pump blood to the brain and heart when the heart cannot. Start them right away; do not wait to be sure of anything beyond unresponsive and not breathing normally.

Hand position and technique

Place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest, over the lower half of the breastbone. Put your other hand on top and interlock your fingers or keep them lifted. Straighten your arms and position your shoulders directly over your hands, so you push with your body weight rather than your arm muscles.

Rate and depth for adults

As of 2026, AHA and Red Cross guidance for adults calls for:

A rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute. The beat of many familiar songs falls in this range, and a dispatcher may count it aloud for you.

A depth of about 2 inches (5 cm).

Full chest recoil after every push, meaning you let the chest rise completely before the next compression.

Mistakes to avoid

Pushing too shallow. Most people compress less deeply than they think. Push harder than feels comfortable.

Leaning on the chest. Resting your weight between pushes prevents recoil and reduces blood flow.

Pausing too long. Keep interruptions as brief as possible.

Compressions are tiring, and quality drops faster than most rescuers expect. If another person is present, switch about every 2 minutes, taking no more than a few seconds to swap.

If you are untrained, use hands-only CPR: continuous compressions with no breaths. It is recommended for an adult who collapses suddenly, and it is much better than doing nothing. Be aware that CPR does not always restart the heart on its own. Its job is to keep blood moving until an AED and advanced care can address the underlying problem.

Step 5: Give Rescue Breaths if You Are Trained

If you have been trained and are willing, add rescue breaths to compressions. For adults, the cycle is 30 compressions followed by 2 breaths. Keep the pause for breaths short, ideally under 10 seconds.

To give a breath:

Tilt the head back and lift the chin to open the airway.

Seal a pocket mask or other barrier device over the person's mouth and nose. A barrier protects you and makes the seal easier.

Blow in for about 1 second, watching for the chest to rise visibly.

Let the chest fall, then give the second breath.

Return immediately to compressions.

Do not over-ventilate. Big, forceful, or rapid breaths push air into the stomach and can reduce blood flow. You need only enough air to make the chest rise.

If the first breath does not make the chest rise, re-tilt the head, lift the chin again, and try one more time. If it still fails, do not keep trying. Go back to compressions, and before each later set of breaths, look in the mouth for an object and remove it only if you can see it.

You do not have to give breaths to help. If you are untrained, unwilling, or have no barrier device, continue compressions only. Many people hesitate to start CPR because they fear mouth-to-mouth contact, and that hesitation costs time. Compression-only CPR is a legitimate, effective choice in those situations, and it keeps blood moving to the brain.

Step 6: Use an AED as Soon as It Arrives

As soon as an AED is in reach, turn it on and follow its voice prompts. These devices are designed for people with no training, and they will tell you what to do at each stage. Keep doing compressions while someone else readies the device if you can.

Bare the person's chest. If it is wet, dry it with a towel or shirt, since water can interfere with pad contact.

Attach the pads exactly as shown in the pictures on the pads, usually one on the upper right chest and one on the lower left side.

Plug in the connector if the device requires it.

When the AED says it is analyzing, make sure no one is touching the person.

If a shock is advised, say "Clear," check that everyone is away from the person, and press the shock button.

Immediately after a shock, or after a "no shock advised" message, resume compressions right away. Do not wait to check for a pulse or breathing. Leave the pads on, because the AED will reanalyze the rhythm about every 2 minutes and prompt you again.

A "no shock advised" message does not mean the person is fine. It means the rhythm is not one a shock can correct, so CPR must continue.

If you manage a workplace, school, gym, or pool, confirm where your AED is kept, make sure staff know the location, and check the pad expiration dates and the device's status indicator on a regular schedule. Taylored Instruction sells AEDs and trains people to use them, so you can pair equipment with hands-on practice.

Step 7: Adjust for Children, Infants, and Drowning

The core sequence stays the same, but some situations change the order and the technique.

Children and infants

Whether the collapse was witnessed makes a difference. If you see a child or infant suddenly collapse, call 911 and get an AED first, as you would for an adult. If the collapse was unwitnessed and you are alone, give about 2 minutes of CPR first, then call 911. Cardiac arrest in young people is more often caused by a breathing problem, so oxygen matters more.

For compressions, use one hand on a child and compress about one-third the depth of the chest, which is roughly 2 inches in a child. For an infant, use two fingers just below the nipple line and compress about 1.5 inches. Trained rescuers use a 30:2 ratio when alone, and many courses teach 15:2 when two rescuers are present. Confirm exact figures against your certification materials.

Drowning and other breathing-related arrests

When the cause is lack of oxygen, as in drowning, choking, or asthma, rescue breaths matter more. If you are trained, give 2 breaths early, then continue with compressions, and do not skip breaths. A lone rescuer typically gives about 2 minutes of CPR before leaving to call 911, though if someone else can call, have them do it immediately.

Opioid overdose

If you suspect an opioid overdose and naloxone is available, give it as the product instructions direct while continuing CPR. Local rules on who may administer it can vary, so check your state and the product label.

Step 8: Keep Going Until Help Takes Over

Once you start, continue until one of these happens:

EMS or other trained responders arrive and take over.

The person starts breathing normally or shows clear signs of life, such as moving or speaking.

An AED instructs you to stop, for example during analysis.

The scene becomes unsafe.

You are too exhausted to continue.

If the person begins breathing normally but remains unresponsive, roll them into the recovery position: on their side, top knee bent to hold the body steady, head tilted slightly back so the airway stays open and fluid can drain. Stay with them and keep watching their breathing. If it stops, put them on their back and restart CPR.

When responders arrive, give a short handoff: what you saw, how long the person was unresponsive, when you started CPR, whether an AED was used and how many shocks were delivered. Then step back and let them work.

Afterward, expect that the experience may stay with you. Rescuers often feel shaken, guilty, or wired, even when the outcome was not what they hoped for. Talking with a friend, a counselor, or your employer's support resources is a normal and healthy response. If you are wondering about legal protection for helping, check your state's Good Samaritan laws, such as those in Washington and California, rather than relying on assumptions.

Turning This Sequence Into a Skill You Trust

Reading these steps gives you the map, but practice builds the confidence to act when your heart is racing. Hands-on training lets you feel the depth and rhythm of compressions, handle a barrier device, and run through an AED so none of it is unfamiliar. Taylored Instruction offers CPR, BLS, and First Aid courses with American Red Cross or American Heart Association certification, and the skills need refreshing on the schedule your certification requires.

Don't wait until an emergency happens. Get the life-saving certification you need today. Register for a CPR, First Aid, or Lifeguarding class and gain the confidence and skills to respond when it matters most.