# Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Intervention · id `cardio:cpr` · Cardiovascular Atlas · release `5dcd9b263fe17744` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: CPR Browse, condition area: Acute care and long-term living ## In plain language CPR is the emergency measure used while a person's heart is not pumping. MedlinePlus says it keeps blood moving to the brain and other organs until the heart's rhythm can be restored, and that it should start at once and carry on until a defibrillator is ready. NHLBI says a bystander can improve a person's chance by calling 9-1-1, giving CPR and using an AED, and that few people who have an arrest are treated fast enough to survive. ## Technical summary NHLBI and MedlinePlus are general patient pages and give no compression rate or depth. No compression rate, depth or class of recommendation is recorded here. MeSH D016887 (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation). ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: People in cardiac arrest outside hospital, as described in NHLBI and MedlinePlus patient pages Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: People who collapse and may be in cardiac arrest, and the bystanders around them. The pages are general patient information and do not give separate advice by age.; Care setting: Community and public places, then emergency services (the pages are written for bystanders).; Geography: United States (the NHLBI page cites US death figures and the 9-1-1 number).; Life stage: The pages do not state an age group.; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (patient information pages). ### NHLBI says bystanders to a cardiac arrest can phone 9-1-1, give CPR and use an AED, and that immediate CPR and defibrillation after a 9-1-1 call can save a life. It adds that few people who have an arrest get treated fast enough to survive. MedlinePlus says CPR should begin right away and carry on until a defibrillator is ready, since CPR keeps blood moving to the brain and other organs until the heart's rhythm is restored, and that the defibrillator shock must come within minutes of the arrest to work well. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Evidence stage unknown - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: People who collapse and may be in cardiac arrest, and the bystanders around them. The pages are general patient information and do not give separate advice by age.; Care setting: Community and public places, then emergency services (the pages are written for bystanders).; Geography: United States (the NHLBI page cites US death figures and the 9-1-1 number).; Life stage: The pages do not state an age group.; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (patient information pages). - Limitations: General patient information from two government pages. NHLBI is a cite-only source, so its wording is restated and not quoted. The pages are not a guideline: they give no compression rate or depth and no class of recommendation. The 2025 AHA guideline abstracts were read, but their recommendations were not. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Cardiac Arrest: What Is Cardiac Arrest? (NHLBI) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15. The page says it was last updated on May 19, 2022.) Locator: Page body, paragraph 6. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:53:21Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 983ed7b98dc8e782bb47746bd9a1e78f09f7a6d5be1f583b636d40b93e91748a. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. 2. Supports: Cardiac Arrest: What Is Cardiac Arrest? (NHLBI) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15. The page says it was last updated on May 19, 2022.) Locator: Page body, paragraph 6 (quote 2). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:53:21Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 983ed7b98dc8e782bb47746bd9a1e78f09f7a6d5be1f583b636d40b93e91748a. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. 3. Supports: Cardiac Arrest: What Is Cardiac Arrest? (NHLBI) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15. The page says it was last updated on May 19, 2022.) Locator: Page body, paragraph 6 (quote 3). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:53:21Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 983ed7b98dc8e782bb47746bd9a1e78f09f7a6d5be1f583b636d40b93e91748a. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. 4. Supports: Cardiac Arrest: What Is Cardiac Arrest? (NHLBI) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15. The page says it was last updated on May 19, 2022.) Locator: Page body, AED section (quote 2). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:53:21Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 983ed7b98dc8e782bb47746bd9a1e78f09f7a6d5be1f583b636d40b93e91748a. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. 5. Supports: Sudden Cardiac Arrest (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15.) Locator: Summary, treatments. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:54:14Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 713e38eb67d03168df1bcf93f80abed751759ee7e044ac8697444ff28033a8d5. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. 6. Supports: Sudden Cardiac Arrest (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15.) Locator: Summary, treatments (quote 2). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:54:14Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 713e38eb67d03168df1bcf93f80abed751759ee7e044ac8697444ff28033a8d5. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. 7. Supports: Sudden Cardiac Arrest (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition Page fetched 2026-10-15.) Locator: Summary, treatments (quote 3). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:54:14Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 713e38eb67d03168df1bcf93f80abed751759ee7e044ac8697444ff28033a8d5. How it applies: Patient information page, restated in the claim. ## Connected pages - Emergency response to this condition: Sudden cardiac arrest (`cardio:sudden-cardiac-arrest`) - Filed under this front: Emergency and acute care (`cardio:front-emergency-and-acute-care`) - Related to: MedlinePlus (`core:medlineplus`) - Related to: Unequal bystander CPR after cardiac arrest in the community (`cardio:bottleneck-bystander-cpr-gaps`) - Related to: Steps after a cardiac arrest outside hospital (`cardio:pathway-out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrest`) - Related to: International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) (`cardio:ilcor`) ## Provenance Content hash: ac44a46caa42472b04c0c17c717ff3f7c67ca7e2b90a937a7b606bd69f8e80c1 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15