Get ready · printable

Life-saving actions

Five simple actions that can save a life while help is on the way. Read, print and review them regularly.

These actions do not replace first-aid training. In immediate danger, call 112.
Get trained: First aid / CPR (national Red Cross) ↗ · Find your national first-aid society (IFRC) ↗

Protect, alert, rescue

The basic reflex, in this order.

Protect: remove the danger if you safely can (cut the power, move away, mark the area).
Alert: call 112. Say where, what happened, how many casualties and their condition. Don't hang up until told to.
Rescue: give the appropriate care, following the operator's instructions if needed.

Not responding, but breathing normally.

Check response (talk, gently shake the shoulders), then breathing for 10 seconds.
Turn them onto their side (recovery position), head tilted back, mouth pointing down.
Cover them, call 112 and monitor breathing until help arrives.

Unconscious and not breathing, or not normally.

Have someone call 112 and fetch a defibrillator (AED).
Push hard and fast on the centre of the chest: 5–6 cm deep, 100–120 times per minute, without stopping.
As soon as an AED arrives, switch it on and follow its voice instructions.
If trained: give 30 compressions then 2 rescue breaths.

Blood is flowing heavily and won't stop.

Press immediately, hard and directly on the wound (clean cloth or your hand), without releasing.
Lay the person down and call 112.
If blood soaks through, add cloth on top without removing the first, and keep pressing.

The person can no longer speak, cough or breathe.

Give 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades.
If it fails: 5 abdominal thrusts (Heimlich). Alternate 5 back blows / 5 thrusts.
Call 112. If the person becomes unconscious, start CPR.
Infant: 5 back blows then 5 chest thrusts (never the abdomen).

ℹ️This sheet is an awareness aid. It does not replace training or the instructions of emergency services; in immediate danger, call 112.