paula is unresponsive and not breathing. she does not show any signs of life-threatening bleeding. what should gary do first?
Gary should immediately start CPR with chest compressions and have someone call emergency services (911/999) and get an AED if available.
What Gary should do first
Because Paula is unresponsive and not breathing, and there is no life‑threatening bleeding, this is treated as cardiac arrest.
- Call for help and an AED
- Shout for help and tell someone specific to call emergency services (911/999) and to bring an AED if one is nearby.
* If Gary is alone and has a phone, he should call emergency services on speaker so he can start CPR while talking to the dispatcher.
- Start chest compressions (CPR) immediately
- Place the heel of one hand in the center of Paula’s chest, put the other hand on top, and lock his elbows.
* Push hard and fast, about 100–120 compressions per minute (roughly 2 per second), allowing the chest to rise fully between pushes.
* Continue compressions without long pauses until emergency help or an AED arrives.
- Use an AED as soon as it arrives
- Turn it on, follow the voice prompts, apply pads as shown on the diagrams, and stand clear while it analyzes and shocks if advised.
* Resume chest compressions immediately after any shock, or if no shock is advised, following the AED prompts.
In exam-style questions like this, the best single “first” action, once you know she is not breathing and not bleeding severely, is to start chest compressions while ensuring emergency services are called and an AED is obtained as quickly as possible.
TL;DR: First priority: begin chest compressions right away and have emergency services and an AED brought to the scene.
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