DRSABCD: Basic Life Support

DRSABCD is the Australian action plan for someone who has collapsed: Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defibrillation. You can’t make things worse. Any CPR is better than none, and the 000 call-taker will talk you through it.

Unresponsive and not breathing normally? Call 000 now (112 also works from a mobile). Put the phone on speaker, start CPR, and send someone for a defibrillator (AED).

D: Danger

• Check for danger to you, bystanders and the person: traffic, fire, electricity, water, sharps.
• Only move the person if it isn’t safe to help them where they are.

R: Response

• Talk and touch. Remember COWS: Can you hear me? Open your eyes. What’s your name? Squeeze my hand.
• Squeeze their shoulders firmly. Don’t shake a baby or anyone who may have a neck injury.
• If they respond, make them comfortable, check for injuries and get help if needed.

S: Send for help

• Call 000, or ask a specific person to call: “You in the blue shirt, call 000.”
• Ask someone else to find the nearest AED. Many are listed in apps such as GoodSAM and on state AED registers.

A: Airway

• Open the mouth and look for anything blocking it, like food, vomit or blood.
• If something’s there, roll them onto their side and clear it with your fingers.
• Open the airway: one hand on the forehead, tilt the head back gently and lift the chin. For a baby, keep the head level (neutral), not tilted back.

B: Breathing

• Look, listen and feel for normal breathing for no more than 10 seconds.
• Gasping or odd, noisy breaths are not normal breathing. They are common in the first minutes of cardiac arrest. Start CPR.
• Breathing normally? Put them in the recovery position on their side, keep the airway open and keep checking until help arrives.

C: CPR

• Kneel beside them. Put the heel of one hand on the lower half of the breastbone, in the centre of the chest, and the other hand on top.
• Push down hard, one third of the depth of the chest (about 5 cm in an adult), and let it come right back up each time.
• Go fast: 100 to 120 a minute. The beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive’ is about right.
• Give 30 compressions, then 2 breaths: tilt the head, pinch the nose, seal your mouth over theirs and blow until the chest rises.
• Don’t want to give breaths, or can’t? Do compressions only, without stopping.
• Keep going. Swap with another rescuer every 2 minutes if you can, with as little pause as possible.

D: Defibrillation

• Turn on the AED as soon as it arrives and follow the voice prompts. Anyone can use one; you don’t need training.
• Stick the pads on the bare chest as shown on the pictures. Keep doing CPR while the pads go on.
• Stand clear when it analyses and shocks. Restart CPR straight away when it says to.
• An AED only shocks if the heart rhythm needs it. It can’t shock someone who doesn’t need it.

Children and babies

• The steps are the same, with the same 30 compressions to 2 breaths.
• Children (1 year to puberty): one or two hands on the lower half of the breastbone, one third of the chest depth.
• Babies (under 1): two fingers on the lower half of the breastbone, about 4 cm deep. Cover the mouth and nose with your mouth and give small puffs.
• Use child pads or a child setting on the AED if there is one. If not, adult pads are fine.

When to stop CPR

• The person starts breathing normally or moving.
• Paramedics or another trained person takes over.
• You’re too exhausted to keep going, or it becomes unsafe.

Choking

• Coughing? Encourage them to keep coughing and stay with them.
• Can’t cough, speak or breathe? Call 000. Give up to 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades, then up to 5 chest thrusts (like CPR compressions, but sharper and slower) if it hasn’t cleared. Keep alternating.
• If they become unresponsive, start DRSABCD and CPR.
• Babies: lay them face down along your forearm, head lower, for back blows; then face up on your forearm for chest thrusts with two fingers.

Good to know

• Every minute without CPR or a shock cuts the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest by about 10%.
• In Australia, people who help in good faith in an emergency are legally protected.
• Broken ribs can happen with good CPR. They heal; a brain without oxygen doesn’t.
• A short CPR course takes a few hours and is worth redoing every year.
• Test yourself with our CPR and first aid quiz.

Helpful resources

• Australian Resuscitation Council: guidelines and flowchartsThe official ANZCOR basic life support flowchart. Free.
• healthdirect: How to do CPRPlain-English guide with diagrams. Free.
• St John Ambulance Australia: first aid coursesCPR and first aid training across Australia.

Evidence and more information

• ANZCOR Guideline 8: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• ANZCOR Guideline 7: Automated external defibrillation in basic life support
• ANZCOR Guideline 4: Airway (including choking)
• ANZCOR Basic Life Support flowchart

Updated 16 November 2026. General education, not personal medical advice. Treatment depends on your situation, so talk to your GP or pharmacist.

maladywise.com/drsabcd/