When you and a partner arrive at a scene with an unresponsive, apneic, pulseless middle-aged man and no bystander care has been provided, you should:

When you and a partner arrive at a scene with an unresponsive, apneic, pulseless middle-aged man and no bystander care has been provided, you should:

• A. Begin high-quality CPR and apply the AED without delay.
• B. Perform a rapid head-to-toe survey before starting CPR.
• C. Wait for a helmeted bystander to clear the area.
• D. Check for a pulse for 60 seconds before starting CPR.

Answer: (A)

In this situation the priority is immediate resuscitation for potential cardiac arrest. An unresponsive person who isn’t breathing normally and has no pulse requires CPR right away to maintain blood flow to the brain and heart, while an AED is used as soon as it’s available to try to restore a normal rhythm. So you begin high-quality CPR without delay, and you bring the AED into use as soon as you can, following the device’s prompts. You don’t pause to survey the scene or wait for others to clear, and you don’t spend a full minute checking for a pulse before starting—pulse checks on a nonresponsive, apneic adult are not a delay you can afford in this scenario.

In this situation the priority is immediate resuscitation for potential cardiac arrest. An unresponsive person who isn’t breathing normally and has no pulse requires CPR right away to maintain blood flow to the brain and heart, while an AED is used as soon as it’s available to try to restore a normal rhythm.

So you begin high-quality CPR without delay, and you bring the AED into use as soon as you can, following the device’s prompts. You don’t pause to survey the scene or wait for others to clear, and you don’t spend a full minute checking for a pulse before starting—pulse checks on a nonresponsive, apneic adult are not a delay you can afford in this scenario.