First Aid: What to Do in an Emergency

Emergency call and adrenaline pen

In anaphylaxis, adrenaline is the only drug that works fast enough. Many people with allergies carry an auto-injector: ask them or look in their bag.

💡 Did you know? Adrenaline only helps if it comes early. The guidelines are unambiguous: when in doubt, inject: the danger from the reaction outweighs the risk of the injection.

The outer thigh

Press firmly and hold (how long is printed on the pen itself): depending on the brand it is 3 or 10 seconds. Through thin clothing works if you must; speed matters more than a bare leg.

💡 Did you know? Not the buttock and not the arm: the thigh muscle takes up adrenaline fastest.

Their circulation collapses

With circulatory symptoms, lay them flat and raise the legs; with breathing trouble, let them sit upright instead: that makes breathing easier.

💡 Did you know? There are documented deaths of people who sat or stood up too soon.

Call for help and start compressions

Since the 2025 guidelines the order is: make the call first, then check; the dispatcher will talk you through it and can count the rhythm for you.

💡 Did you know? Agonal gasping looks like breathing but isn't: occasional rasping breaths mean cardiac arrest: start pressing.

Compression-only CPR

The guidelines say so explicitly: if in doubt, simply carry on pressing. Trained helpers can alternate 30 compressions with 2 breaths.

💡 Did you know? The simplification has a reason: fear of mouth-to-mouth used to stop people from starting at all.

5 to 6 cm

In the middle of the chest, 100 to 120 times a minute, letting the chest come back up fully after every push.

💡 Did you know? The beat of “Stayin' Alive” is almost exactly right: which is why courses still use the song.

Back blows

Lean them forward and strike five times with the heel of your hand. Only if that fails do five abdominal thrusts follow: the Heimlich manoeuvre.

💡 Did you know? As long as someone is coughing forcefully, coughing is the best help there is: encourage it rather than hitting them.

See a doctor

The pressure on the upper abdomen can injure internal organs: even when everything looks fine afterwards.

💡 Did you know? For pregnant or very large people you press on the middle of the chest instead.

To keep the airway clear

On their back, the slackened tongue can block the throat and vomit runs into the lungs. On their side it drains away.

💡 Did you know? Keep watching the breathing: if it stops, turn them onto their back at once and start compressions.

Face, Arms, Speech, Time

Ask them to smile, to raise both arms, to repeat a simple sentence: if any of it fails, every minute counts.

💡 Did you know? Around two million nerve cells die every minute during a stroke; hence the phrase “time is brain”.

Swallowing is impaired

That includes medication. Anything that reaches the windpipe can cause severe pneumonia.

💡 Did you know? The same goes for anyone whose consciousness is clouded and for the unconscious in any case.

Upper body raised

Loosen tight clothing, keep them calm, don't let them walk any further and stay with them until help arrives.

💡 Did you know? In women a heart attack often looks different: nausea, breathlessness or upper abdominal pain instead of the classic pressure on the chest.

Direct pressure

Use your bare hand and a piece of clothing if you must, then a pressure bandage. Raising the limb helps as well.

💡 Did you know? A tourniquet is the last resort for life-threatening bleeding on an arm or leg: outside pressure is almost always enough.

Put anything in their mouth

Instead clear the danger away, cushion the head and check the time. Afterwards put them in the recovery position.

💡 Did you know? Nobody swallows their tongue during a seizure: objects in the mouth, however, break teeth and block the airway.

5 minutes

Also call if a second seizure follows straight away, if there are injuries, or if it is the person's first seizure ever.

💡 Did you know? A seizure that doesn't stop on its own is called status epilepticus and is life-threatening.

Glucose or juice

Low blood sugar is the more common and faster emergency. When in doubt, give sugar: with high blood sugar it does little harm, with low it saves them.

💡 Did you know? Never put anything into an unconscious person's mouth: not even glucose. Then it's recovery position and an emergency call.

Lukewarm water

"Small" means roughly the size of the person's own palm. Cool only as long as it feels good and not on the torso. Ice, ointment, flour or oil have no business on a burn.

💡 Did you know? Large burns are not cooled at all: the loss of body heat would be more dangerous than the wound.

It causes harm a second time

Milk is wrong too: it speeds up the uptake of some poisons. The right move: call the poison control centre and keep the packaging to hand.

💡 Did you know? Poison centres are staffed around the clock and will advise on harmless suspicions too: better one call too many.

Tipped forward

Pinch the soft part of the nose for a few minutes and put something cold on the neck.

💡 Did you know? Tipping the head back is the classic first aid myth: the blood then runs down the throat and into the stomach.

Switch off the power

Only then touch anyone: otherwise one casualty becomes two. That is for household current. With high voltage (railways, overhead lines, substations) only distance helps: at least 20 metres, until the network operator has switched it off.

💡 Did you know? A fallen high-voltage line creates a voltage gradient in the ground: a single large step can kill, because a voltage builds up between your feet. Move away in small shuffling steps.

Good Samaritan laws

Anyone helping in good faith is legally protected in most countries. In Germany and much of continental Europe, walking past is itself an offence.

💡 Did you know? So the risk runs the other way: in Germany and much of continental Europe, walking past can itself be punishable, while a rib broken during resuscitation is not.