Scout Skills

First Aid · Resuscitation

Rescue Breathing & CPR

CPR keeps blood and oxygen moving when a heart has stopped, buying time until an AED or EMS arrives. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest in cycles of 30 compressions and 2 breaths — this is a hands-on skill best learned in a certified class.

Category
Resuscitation
Start when
Unresponsive, not breathing
Cycle
30 compressions : 2 breaths
Rate
100–120 / min

Adult CPR

  1. 1Check the scene for safety; use a breathing barrier if you have one.
  2. 2Check the person with "shout–tap–shout" — shout to get a response, tap the shoulder, shout again — and look for breathing or life-threatening bleeding.
  3. 3If unresponsive and not breathing, or only gasping, call 911 and get an AED (or send someone).
  4. 4Place them on their back on a firm, flat surface, and kneel beside them.
  5. 530 chest compressions: two hands centered on the chest, shoulders over your hands, elbows locked. Push at least 2 inches deep, 100–120 a minute, letting the chest come all the way back up after each push.
  6. 62 rescue breaths: open the airway with a head-tilt/chin-lift, pinch the nose, seal your mouth over theirs, and give each breath about 1 second, just until the chest rises. If it doesn't rise, re-tilt and re-seal.
  7. 7Continue sets of 30 and 2 with interruptions under 10 seconds. Use an AED the moment one arrives. Don't stop until the person shows signs of life, an AED or EMS takes over, or you're too exhausted to continue.

Not trained or unsure? Give Hands-Only CPR — continuous chest compressions, no breaths. It's far better than doing nothing. Rescue breathing (breaths for a person who has a pulse but isn't breathing) uses the same airway-open, sealed-breath technique, and matters especially in drowning.

When to use it

  • Sudden cardiac arrest — someone collapses, unresponsive, not breathing normally.
  • A hurry case a scout may meet at camp, at a meeting, or in the backcountry before EMS can arrive.
  • Pairs with an AED and with choking care — a choking person who goes unresponsive gets CPR.

Common mistakes & safety

  • Untrained is not a reason to freeze. Hands-Only CPR is far better than no CPR. Push hard, push fast, in the center of the chest.
  • A person in cardiac arrest may gasp. These "agonal" gasps are NOT normal breathing — they're a reason to start CPR, not to wait.
  • Compress on a firm, flat surface. Compressions on a soft mattress or uneven ground are much less effective.
  • Let the chest recoil fully. Leaning on the chest between pushes reduces how much blood refills the heart.
  • Get an AED fast. Early defibrillation plus CPR is what saves cardiac-arrest victims; every minute of delay lowers the odds.
  • Child and infant CPR differ in depth and hand placement — don't apply adult depths to a small child; use a pediatric-CPR resource.
  • This is a training skill. Reading steps isn't the same as hands-on practice — take a certified CPR course. In a real event, a 911 dispatcher can coach you.

Going deeper

  • Why compressions come first. The shift from "A-B-C" to "C-A-B" put compressions before breaths — keeping blood circulating is the priority, and it gets bystanders started faster.
  • Agonal gasping fools people. Occasional gasps after collapse look like breathing but aren't; treating them as "still breathing" costs lives.
  • The Chain of Survival. Early recognition and 911, early CPR, early defibrillation, and advanced care — each link matters.
  • Hands-Only CPR was promoted partly to remove the "I don't want to do mouth-to-mouth" barrier that stopped bystanders from acting.

Official source

CPR steps — American Red Cross →

Reflects the 2025 American Heart Association CPR guidelines. Reading this is not the same as training — take a certified CPR course. Scouting America groups cardiac arrest among its hurry cases.

Related skills

First AidAED Basics First AidChoking First AidHurry Cases First AidShock First AidSevere Bleeding First AidHead, Neck & Spine