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First aid

Resuscitation

Emergency call 144. In case of unconsciousness, respiratory arrest or life-threatening bleeding, immediately alert the medical emergency control centre and follow its instructions.

In cardiac arrest, the chance of survival drops by about 10% per minute without help. You can't do anything wrong by compressing – only doing nothing is wrong. The defibrillator (AED) guides you through everything with voice prompts.

Raise the alarm & defibrillator

  1. Call 144 (speakerphone) and have a defibrillator (AED) fetched immediately.

30 compressions

  1. Centre of the chest, 5–6 cm deep, rate 100–120/min – hard and without interruption.

2 rescue breaths

  1. If you have practised it: 30 compressions, then 2 rescue breaths. Otherwise keep compressing continuously.

Use the defibrillator

  1. Switch on the AED and follow the voice prompts. Continue until the emergency services take over.

Keep the rhythm

  1. 100–120 compressions per minute
  2. The beat of «Stayin' Alive» or «Highway to Hell»
  3. Fully release the chest after each compression
  4. Swap every 2 minutes if there are two of you

Finding a defibrillator (AED)

  1. Locations: train stations, town halls, banks, club premises
  2. The «defikarte.ch» app shows the nearest AED
  3. Switch on the defibrillator and simply follow the prompts

Correct compression technique

  1. Lay the person flat on a hard surface, expose the chest
  2. Heel of the hand in the centre of the chest (lower half of the breastbone), second hand on top
  3. Arms straight, shoulders directly above the compression point – work from the upper body
  4. Keep interruptions under 10 seconds – every pause costs brain perfusion

Resuscitation in children

  1. In children, start with 5 initial rescue breaths, then continue at a ratio of 15:2 (15 compressions : 2 rescue breaths). For laypeople with no paediatric training it is acceptable to stay with the familiar adult rhythm of 30:2 – the main thing is that resuscitation is carried out at all.
  2. Compression depth one third of the diameter of the chest. Infants (under 1 year): compress with two thumbs, with the hands encircling the chest. From 1 year: with one or two hands
  3. Children under 25 kg (roughly under 8 years of age): stick the pads on the chest and back. Switch on the paediatric mode if the AED has one – otherwise use it normally
Caution: Even if you have not practised, the rule holds: compressing is always better than doing nothing – the AED prompts apply to children too.

Further sources

  • Defikarte AED locations in Switzerland
  • SRC Learn resuscitation
This content is for information only and does not replace first-aid training. We recommend a recognised first-aid or BLS-AED course.