Overview
- The guidance instructs alternating five back blows and five abdominal thrusts for conscious adults and children until the airway clears or the person becomes unresponsive.
- For choking infants, responders should use cycles of five back blows and five chest thrusts delivered with the heel of the hand.
- New opioid overdose recommendations include step-by-step directions on recognizing a suspected overdose and administering naloxone.
- The AHA affirms that children as young as 12 can effectively learn CPR and use defibrillators, with officials urging hands-only CPR and dispatcher coaching via 911.
- About 350,000 Americans experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and the AHA also offers song-tempo cues to help maintain the 100–120 compressions-per-minute target.