You should stop CPR when the person responds or begins breathing normally, when it becomes impossible for you to continue, when a health care professional arrives and takes over, or when a health care professional directs that CPR be ceased.
Those four conditions are the ones set out in ANZCOR Guideline 8, the Australian and New Zealand resuscitation guideline that accredited CPR training in Australia is built on. What the list cannot tell you is how each condition looks on a factory floor or in a suburban lounge room, how long “keep going” actually means, and which reasons people use to stop far earlier than they should. This guide works through each one, and shows where the HLTAID009 Provide CPR course rehearses the decision.
The four conditions in plain English
1. The person responds or begins breathing normally
This is the outcome everybody is working towards: the chest starts rising and falling on its own, colour returns, and the person moves, coughs, groans or opens their eyes. When that happens, stop compressions, roll them into the recovery position if they are breathing normally but still unresponsive, and stay with them until the ambulance arrives.
Occasional gasps are the trap. Agonal gasps — slow, irregular, snoring-like breaths — are not normal breathing, and ANZCOR is explicit that CPR still starts and continues while they are present. If you are unsure whether what you are seeing counts as normal breathing, treat it as not normal and keep going.
2. It becomes impossible for you to continue
Exhaustion is a legitimate reason to stop, but it comes last, not first. Effective compressions need at least five centimetres of depth at a rate of 100 to 120 per minute, and most rescuers fade within a couple of minutes — how deep you should push during adult CPR covers what that depth looks like and why it fades. If a second trained person is there, swap every two minutes and keep the changeover to seconds. If you are alone, keep going for as long as you physically can and call 000 on speaker so the operator can talk you through it.
Impossible also covers the scene turning dangerous — traffic, fire, a collapsing structure, an aggressive bystander. No rescuer is expected to stay inside a hazard.
3. A health care professional arrives and takes over
An ambulance pulling up does not automatically mean stop. Keep compressions going until a paramedic or another clinician physically takes over or asks you to stop. Crews need a moment to set up, and the compressions you continue in that gap are still circulating blood.
4. A health care professional directs that CPR be ceased
Only a clinician can decide that resuscitation should stop without a return of circulation. In the pre-hospital setting, ANZCOR guidance recommends that validated termination of resuscitation rules guide clinicians rather than a fixed stopwatch. That call belongs to the treating professionals; a bystander or workplace first aider is not expected to make it.
How long should you keep going before help arrives?
There is no time limit in the guideline, and that surprises people. The instruction is to continue until one of the four conditions is met. Ambulance response times vary enormously by location, so the honest answer is: keep compressions going, swap rescuers when you can, and let the professionals decide when resuscitation is no longer achieving anything. CPR that feels futile after ten minutes is still the only thing moving oxygenated blood to the brain.
Advance care directives and do not resuscitate orders
Some people document in advance that they do not want CPR, through an advance care directive, a resuscitation plan, or an order held by a residential aged care facility. If clear and current documentation is produced at the scene, follow it — but what counts as valid differs between states and territories, so confirm current requirements with the relevant health authority if you work somewhere this could arise. The practical point for a first aider is narrower: never delay starting CPR to go looking for paperwork. Start compressions and hand any documentation to the arriving paramedics.
Four reasons people stop CPR too early
Ribs cracking. Rib and sternum injuries are a common and expected result of good compressions on an adult. ANZCOR is blunt that CPR should be started for presumed cardiac arrest without concern about harm to someone who is not in arrest. A cracked rib is survivable; a stopped heart without compressions is not.
No response after a few minutes. CPR rarely restarts a heart on its own. Most people who survive are revived by a defibrillator or by paramedics, and the compressions are what keep the brain viable until that point.
Discomfort about rescue breaths. If you cannot or will not give breaths, compression-only CPR is formally supported and far better than doing nothing.
Assuming someone else will take over. In a crowded room nobody moves because everybody assumes someone else already has. Point at one person and tell them to call 000 and fetch the AED.
Handing over: what to tell the paramedics
The handover takes seconds and matters. Say when the person was found, whether they were breathing normally, when compressions started, how many shocks the AED delivered, and anything that changed. Leave the defibrillator pads attached so the crew can read the trace. If the person starts breathing normally, place them in the recovery position and keep monitoring, because cardiac arrest can recur.
Where this fits into HLTAID009 training
Starting, continuing and stopping CPR is assessed, not just demonstrated. In ALIT’s HLTAID009 Provide CPR course you practise compressions and breaths on adult, child and infant manikins, use an AED trainer, and work through scenario questions on when to begin and when to cease — alongside the 30:2 compression to breath ratio that holds the sequence together. The course runs for 3.5 hours on campus at West Melbourne, the course fee is $75 and learning materials are included, and enrolments are open — confirm the next start date with ALIT on the HLTAID009 Provide CPR course page.
If your role also needs full first aid, HLTAID011 Provide First Aid includes CPR, and the two are often booked together. CPR itself needs refreshing every twelve months whatever certificate you hold — see how often CPR training needs to be renewed — while renewing your first aid certificate runs on its own longer cycle. For younger casualties, the four stopping conditions stay the same but the technique changes, which the guide to CPR for children and infants explains.
FAQ
Should I stop CPR when the ambulance arrives?
No. Keep compressions going until a paramedic or clinician physically takes over or tells you to stop.
Can I stop CPR after 20 or 30 minutes?
There is no fixed time limit in Australian first aid guidance. Continue until the person responds or breathes normally, help takes over, a clinician directs you to stop, or you physically cannot continue.
Is it OK to stop if I hear ribs crack?
No — keep going. Rib and sternum injuries are a known risk of effective compressions and are not a reason to stop.
What if I am alone and exhausted?
Keep going as long as you can, call 000 on speaker for coaching, and use any bystander who can follow instructions to take over compressions.
Do the same rules apply for a child or infant?
The four conditions for stopping are the same. Ratios, depth and hand position change, which the guide to CPR for children and infants covers.
No comments yet — start the conversation.