Recognising emergencies and calling for help

Approach safely and recognize danger quickly

First look for traffic, fire, electricity, smoke, falling objects, or violence. Do not enter an unsafe scene and create another casualty. Once approach is safe, speak to the person and gently tap a shoulder, checking responsiveness while noticing obvious major bleeding. If unresponsive, call emergency services immediately or direct someone to call; a diagnosis is not required. Speakerphone allows assessment and assistance to continue. RCUK 2025 adult basic life support emphasizes early calling for an unresponsive person.

Quickly assess whether breathing is normal. Occasional gasps, slow irregular sighs, or abnormal panting are not reassuring normal breaths. Unresponsiveness with absent or abnormal breathing requires immediate CPR and an AED. Lay rescuers should not delay by repeatedly checking a pulse. Describe what you see to the dispatcher rather than assuming that the person is sleeping.

Give location and immediately important findings

Call the local medical emergency number: commonly 120 in mainland China, 999 in the UK, and 911 in the US. Confirm numbers before travel rather than assuming worldwide compatibility. The UK government’s China emergency information confirms mainland emergency contacts. Give the city, street, entrance, floor or clear landmark, and callback number. Then describe the event, approximate number and age of casualties, responsiveness, normal or abnormal breathing, and major bleeding.

Continued dispatcher questions do not mean an ambulance has not been dispatched. Answers help select resources and guide care. Stay connected, listen, and repeat essential instructions. Assign particular people to retrieve an AED or meet the ambulance, and confirm that they respond. Separating calling, care, equipment retrieval, and access is more useful than a crowd making duplicate calls. State when facts are unknown rather than inventing history or timing.

Do not wait for stroke or cardiac warning signs to resolve

Sudden facial weakness, arm weakness, or abnormal speech should trigger an immediate emergency call for suspected stroke. Record symptom onset, or the last time the person was known to be normal if onset is uncertain. Sudden visual change, major imbalance, and other abrupt neurological symptoms can also matter; an incomplete FAST pattern does not exclude danger. Symptoms resolving spontaneously still require immediate assessment, and the person should not drive. See NHS stroke symptoms.

New chest pressure, tightness, or pain, especially with breathlessness, cold sweating, nausea, or collapse, can indicate a cardiac emergency, although presentations vary. Stop activity, help the person rest, and call. Do not ask them to walk to test the pain. A heart attack involves impaired blood supply damaging heart muscle; cardiac arrest means loss of effective circulation. One can lead to the other. Seek dispatcher or clinical advice about medicines without delaying the call.

Responsiveness and breathing determine immediate care

An unresponsive person who is definitely breathing normally also needs emergency assessment. The following recovery-position steps illustrate adult care. If spinal injury is not suspected, use the recovery position as trained or guided: place the nearer arm at a right angle, hold the farther hand against the near cheek, bend the farther knee, and gently roll the person toward you while positioning the head to maintain an open airway. Continue observing breathing. The recovery position is inappropriate when CPR is needed. St John Ambulance demonstrates the method.

Minimize movement with suspected spinal injury, but airway threats, vomiting, or CPR needs take priority, following dispatcher guidance. Give nothing by mouth to someone with impaired awareness. Let a conscious breathless person adopt the easiest breathing position. Suspected anaphylaxis affecting airway, breathing, or circulation requires immediate help and an appropriate adrenaline device according to the established plan; antihistamines cannot substitute for lifesaving treatment.

Observation and handover continue the rescue

While waiting, watch for changes in responsiveness and breathing, maintain safety, keep the person comfortably warm, and keep access clear. If normal breathing disappears, begin CPR immediately. Apply prompt direct pressure to major external bleeding as developed in the injury lesson. Photography, documents, or assembling a complete history should not interrupt essential help. Medicines, allergies, and relevant history are useful if obtained without delaying care.

Handover should explain the initial state, important symptoms, call timing, actions, and subsequent changes, distinguishing direct observation from another person’s report. Knowing that speech was normal at 15:10 and abnormal at 15:20 is more useful than a vague estimate of several hours. Recording supports action rather than replacing it and reduces later guesswork. Witnesses may also be distressed and can seek support afterward. Practical training with feedback develops skills that reading this lesson alone neither certifies nor establishes.

Reasoning about occasional gasps after collapse

An adult collapses in a shopping center, does not respond, and gasps every few seconds. One witness says breathing means compressions are unnecessary; another wants to give water. Both responses can delay help. This is not normal breathing and consciousness has not returned. Call, begin compressions, and send another person for an AED. An unresponsive person cannot safely drink, and making a sound does not determine whether CPR is needed. AHA 2025 adult basic life support supports this recognition rule.

Use speakerphone and report the location and absence of response with gasping. Follow guidance while continuing care. If normal breathing and responsiveness return, report the change and continue monitoring; temporary improvement does not cancel professional assessment. The exercise converts observations into action rather than requiring a disease name. In uncertainty, involving the dispatcher is safer than waiting for everyone at the scene to agree.

Bilingual terms

濒死喘息 · Agonal gasping

Ineffective irregular gasps that can occur during cardiac arrest.

恢复体位 · Recovery position

A side-lying airway-protecting position for an unresponsive person breathing normally.

最后正常时间 · Last known well

The last confirmed time a person was at their usual baseline.

急救调度 · Emergency dispatch

Receiving calls, assigning resources, and providing immediate instructions.

交接 · Handover

Communicating condition, timing, and actions to incoming rescuers.

Sources and further reading

• RCUK 2025 Adult Basic Life Support
• AHA 2025 Adult Basic Life Support
• NHS: Stroke symptoms
• NHS: Heart attack
• St John Ambulance: Recovery position
• NHS: Anaphylaxis
• GOV.UK: China—Getting help

Original course source-check record: 9 September 2026. Full Chinese and English sentence-by-sentence language review: 14 September 2026. AI editing and language review are not human clinical review. Linked institutions have not participated in or endorsed this course.