Adult: 100–120 per minute, 2–2.4 inches deep, 30:2 with one or two rescuers.
Before you read
Test yourself first: 4 questions
Question 1 of 4
You are handing over a patient whose usual level of response and usual breathing are both far from textbook normal. Your report must include:
Answer: A. A receiving clinician meeting this patient for the first time will read every one of your numbers against the population unless you supply his baseline and say where it came from, which is what turns a set of alarming figures into a stable patient or a bland one into a deteriorating one. Handing over measurements alone passes on the data and keeps the only thing that interprets it.
Question 2 of 4
Deciding that a patient is sick before you have any idea what is wrong with him is:
Answer: A. Sick or not sick is a statement about how close this patient is to losing airway, breathing or perfusion, and none of those depend on knowing which illness is doing it — you can be certain a man is dying and have no idea why. Waiting for a diagnosis or for a measured set of numbers spends the minutes the judgment exists to save, and a commitment made early is not a commitment you cannot revise on the next set of findings.
Question 3 of 4
Your partner is setting up the cot and asks how this one looks. The single most useful sentence you can give him is one that names:
Answer: A. A partner needs to know what to do differently in the next sixty seconds, and only a priority, the finding behind it and a departure plan change his actions. A complaint and a mechanism do not tell him whether to hurry, and reciting numbers makes him do the interpreting you have already done, which is the part of your work that is hardest to repeat under time pressure.
Question 4 of 4
The clearest sign that a priority decision has actually been made, rather than merely thought about, is that:
Answer: A. A priority is a decision about tempo, hands and how often you look again, so if none of those three has changed then the judgment stayed in your head. Writing it down, being agreed with and supporting it with numbers all describe the decision afterwards, and none of them alters what happens to the patient in the minutes the decision was made to protect.
Keep the streak going with more questions like these, each with a full rationale.
What is cpr & aed by the numbers?
Survival depends on compressions that are fast enough, deep enough and rarely interrupted, and on getting a shock to a shockable rhythm early. The 2025 AHA guidelines changed the choking sequence and infant compression technique.
Key points to remember
- Adult: 100–120 per minute, 2–2.4 inches deep, 30:2 with one or two rescuers.
- Child about 2 inches and infant about 1.5 inches — one-third of chest depth. 30:2 alone, 15:2 with two.
- Check breathing and pulse together for no more than 10 seconds; infant pulse at the brachial artery.
- Child with a pulse below 60 and poor perfusion despite good ventilation: start compressions.
- AED: power on, pads on bare dry skin, clear for analysis and shock, compressions immediately after.
Field priorities
- Compressions start as soon as arrest is recognized — agonal gasps are not breathing.
- Minimize every pause: under 10 seconds for rhythm checks and shocks.
- Rotate compressors about every 2 minutes.
Coaching the patient
- Choking (2025): 5 back blows, then 5 abdominal thrusts; infants get chest thrusts.
- Infant compressions: two-thumb encircling or heel of one hand — two-finger is retired.
Red flags: act now
- Agonal gasps mistaken for breathing
- Shallow compressions or leaning on the chest
- Long pauses around the shock
CPR & AED by the Numbers: FAQs
What are the priority actions for CPR & AED by the Numbers in the field?
Compressions start as soon as arrest is recognized — agonal gasps are not breathing. Minimize every pause: under 10 seconds for rhythm checks and shocks. Rotate compressors about every 2 minutes.
What findings in CPR & AED by the Numbers change your plan or your transport decision?
Agonal gasps mistaken for breathing. Shallow compressions or leaning on the chest. Long pauses around the shock.
What do I need to know about CPR & AED by the Numbers for the NREMT?
Adult: 100–120 per minute, 2–2.4 inches deep, 30:2 with one or two rescuers. Child about 2 inches and infant about 1.5 inches — one-third of chest depth. 30:2 alone, 15:2 with two. Check breathing and pulse together for no more than 10 seconds; infant pulse at the brachial artery. Child with a pulse below 60 and poor perfusion despite good ventilation: start compressions.
What should the crew communicate or document for CPR & AED by the Numbers?
Choking (2025): 5 back blows, then 5 abdominal thrusts; infants get chest thrusts. Infant compressions: two-thumb encircling or heel of one hand — two-finger is retired.
