First Aid Basics

The Red Cross teaches every emergency in the same order: Check, Call, Care. It keeps you safe and gets help moving before you do anything else.

1. Check the scene. Before you rush in, look for traffic, fire, smoke, downed power lines, deep water, an angry dog or anything else that could hurt you. If it isn't safe, stay back and call 911. You can't help anyone if you become a second patient.
2. Check the person. Ask "Are you OK?" If they can answer, ask permission to help. If they don't respond, tap their shoulder and shout. Then look at their chest for normal breathing for no more than 10 seconds. Occasional gasps are not normal breathing.
3. Call 911. If someone else is there, point at them and say "You, call 911 and get an AED." A specific person acts faster than a crowd. If you're alone, call on speaker so your hands are free.
4. Care. Give the care you're trained for until help arrives. The dispatcher will coach you step by step, so stay on the line.

Call 911 for anyone who is unresponsive, not breathing normally, has chest pain, trouble breathing, severe bleeding, a serious burn, a seizure, signs of stroke, or a possible head, neck or back injury. When in doubt, call. Dispatchers would much rather send help that turns out not to be needed.

Use gloves if you have them. Protect yourself from blood and body fluids with disposable gloves, and wash your hands afterward. If someone is bleeding to death and you have no gloves, the Red Cross says to start care anyway.

When an adult or teen suddenly collapses and isn't breathing normally, their heart has most likely stopped (cardiac arrest). Without blood flow the brain starts dying within minutes. CPR pushes blood around by hand until an AED or paramedics arrive. The American Heart Association's Hands-Only CPR has just two steps: call 911, then push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

1. Call 911 and send someone for an AED (the defibrillator in a wall box at many stores, gyms, schools and airports).
2. Position. Put the person on their back, ideally on a firm, flat surface. Kneel beside their chest.
3. Hands. Put the heel of one hand on the center of the chest, on the lower half of the breastbone. Put your other hand on top and lock your fingers. Shoulders straight over your hands, arms straight.
4. Push hard. Press straight down at least 2 inches (5 cm), but not more than 2.4 inches (6 cm) for an adult. That's harder than most people expect. Use your body weight, not your arms.
5. Push fast. Aim for 100 to 120 compressions a minute, about two a second. The beat of "Stayin' Alive" is close to that.
6. Let the chest come all the way back up after each push. Don't lean on it between compressions.
7. Don't stop. Keep pauses under 10 seconds. If someone else can help, switch every 2 minutes, because compressions get weaker as you tire.
8. Use the AED as soon as it arrives. Turn it on and follow its voice prompts. You don't need training: it tells you where the pads go and only shocks if it's needed. Make sure no one touches the person during a shock.

Keep going until the person shows an obvious sign of life (like breathing normally), an AED is ready to analyze, someone trained takes over, paramedics take over, you're too exhausted to continue, or the scene becomes unsafe.

Don't be afraid of hurting them. Ribs sometimes crack during good CPR. That heals. A person in cardiac arrest who gets no CPR will die. Good Samaritan laws in every state protect people who help in good faith.

Children, infants and drowning victims need breaths too. Hands-only CPR is for adults and teens who suddenly collapse. For babies, children, drowning, drug overdose or anyone who collapsed from a breathing problem, full CPR with rescue breaths is best. If you aren't trained in it, still call 911 and push. The dispatcher will guide you. A class teaches the rest.

If they can cough forcefully or talk, let them cough. Coughing is the best way to clear the airway. Stay with them and be ready to act if it changes.

Act right away if you see signs of a blocked airway: a weak cough or no cough, high-pitched noises or no breathing sounds, they can't speak, their skin turns pale or bluish, they look panicked, or they clutch their throat (the universal choking sign). Ask "Are you choking?" If they nod, tell them you're going to help and have someone call 911.

1. Repeat 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts until the object comes out, they can cough forcefully, speak or breathe, or they become unresponsive.
2. If they become unresponsive, carefully lower them to the floor, make sure 911 has been called, and start CPR with compressions. Before any breath, look in the mouth. Only remove an object you can actually see. Never do a blind finger sweep.
3. Get checked afterward. Abdominal thrusts can cause internal injury, so anyone who needed them should see a doctor.

Pregnant, or too large to wrap your arms around? Give chest thrusts instead of abdominal thrusts. For someone in a wheelchair, kneel behind the chair and give abdominal thrusts, or chest thrusts if that's hard.

New in the 2025 guidelines. The American Heart Association now also recommends back blows for choking adults, alternating with abdominal thrusts, matching what the Red Cross teaches. If you learned "abdominal thrusts only" years ago, this is the updated method. Babies under 1 need a different technique (back blows and chest thrusts, never abdominal thrusts), which a class will show you.

A person can bleed to death in minutes, often before an ambulance arrives. That's why stopping it is your job. The Red Cross says bleeding is life-threatening if blood is flowing continuously or spurting, if there's a large amount (about half a soda can for an adult, less for a child), or if the person shows signs of shock (pale, cold, clammy skin, confusion, fast breathing).

1. Call 911 (or have someone call) and grab a first aid kit. Put on gloves if you have them.
2. Find the source. Open or cut away clothing to see exactly where the blood is coming from.
3. Press hard. Cover the wound with a dressing (gauze, a clean cloth, a T-shirt) and push firmly and steadily, directly on the wound with both hands. Lean your body weight into it.
4. Don't let up. Keep pressing until the bleeding stops, a tourniquet is on, someone takes over, or help arrives. Don't lift the pad to check.
5. If blood soaks through, put another pad on top. Don't remove the first one.
6. If it stops, wrap a bandage firmly over the dressing and keep watching. If it starts again, take off the bandage and go back to direct pressure.

Tourniquets (arm or leg)

For life-threatening bleeding from an arm or leg that pressure isn't stopping, a tourniquet saves lives. Use a commercial one (like those in Stop the Bleed kits) if you can.

• Place it 2 to 3 inches above the wound, between the wound and the heart. Never on a joint or right on the wound.
• Tighten until the bleeding stops. Warn the person it will hurt a lot. That's normal.
• Lock it so it can't loosen. If bleeding continues, add a second tourniquet above the first.
• Never loosen or remove it. Only medical professionals should take it off.

Something stuck in the wound? Don't pull it out. It may be plugging the bleeding. Pad dressings around it to hold it still, press around it (not on it), and get medical help.

First, stop the burning: get the person away from the heat source. Then cool the skin, because a burn keeps damaging tissue for a while after the heat is gone.

1. Cool it under clean, cool running water for 5 to 20 minutes. Lukewarm is fine if that's all you have. With no running water, use a cool, wet compress.
2. Remove rings, watches and tight clothing near the burn before it swells, unless they're stuck to the skin.
3. Cover it loosely with a clean, dry, non-stick dressing or plastic wrap. No adhesive bandages on the burn itself.
4. Don't break blisters. They protect the skin underneath.

Call 911 for burns that

• Go deep (through skin to fat, muscle or bone) or cover a large area.
• Are on the face, mouth, nose, hands, feet, joints or groin, or go all the way around a limb, the chest or neck.
• Are electrical, chemical, from an explosion or radiation.
• Happen to a young child, an older adult, or someone with other injuries or medical conditions.

The Red Cross also says any burn larger than the person's palm, any blistering burn, and any burn on a child should be seen by a doctor or the emergency room.

Chemical and electrical burns: for electrical burns, make sure the power is off before you touch the person, and be ready to do CPR, since electricity can stop the heart. Brush off dry chemicals, then flush. Cool chemical and electrical burns for at least 15 minutes. Small electrical burns can hide serious damage inside, so they always need a doctor.

If someone is unresponsive but breathing normally, they can choke on vomit, blood or their own tongue while lying on their back. Rolling them onto their side lets fluids drain out of the mouth and keeps the airway open.

1. Kneel beside them. Make sure 911 has been called.
2. Stretch the arm nearest you up above their head.
3. Bring their far arm across their chest and hold the back of that hand against their near cheek.
4. Bend their far knee up, with the foot flat on the ground.
5. Holding the shoulder and hip (or knee), roll them toward you onto their side. Their head rests on the stretched-out arm.
6. Keep the top knee bent so they don't roll forward. Tilt the head slightly so the mouth points down and fluid can drain. The Red Cross suggests the left side when you can.

Keep watching. Check their breathing and responsiveness until help arrives, and keep them warm (or cool) with a blanket or by removing a layer. If they stop breathing normally, roll them onto their back and start CPR.

Possible head, neck or back injury? (A fall, car crash, diving.) Leave them in the position you found them unless you must move them to keep them safe, to do CPR, or to control bleeding, or because fluid is blocking their airway.