What Are the Steps of CPR for Adults in Australia?

The steps of CPR for an adult in Australia follow the DRSABCD action plan: check for Danger, check for a Response, Send for help, open the Airway, check Breathing, start CPR, and attach a Defibrillator as soon as one arrives. The CPR step itself means thirty chest compressions for every two rescue breaths, delivered at 100–120 compressions per minute in line with Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines.

Those steps are exactly what the nationally recognised unit HLTAID009 Provide CPR trains and assesses. This guide walks through the steps of CPR for adults in Australia in the order you would perform them, explains the technique details that matter most for survival, and shows where to practise them under assessment. If the terminology is new to you, start with ALIT’s guide to what HLTAID009 Provide CPR is.

What DRSABCD stands for

DRSABCD is the action plan Australian first aid courses teach for approaching any collapsed person. Each letter is a decision point rather than a skill: is it safe to approach, is the person conscious, is help on the way, is the airway clear, are they breathing normally, and if not, what happens next. Working the letters in order stops a rescuer freezing at the scene and gets blood moving to the brain as quickly as possible.

• D — Danger: hazards to you, the casualty and others, such as traffic, electricity or chemicals, are checked and controlled before you approach.
• R — Response: talk to the person and squeeze their shoulders; no response means treat them as unconscious.
• S — Send: call 000 for an ambulance, ask a bystander to fetch an AED, and put the phone on speaker.
• A — Airway: open the airway with a head tilt and chin lift, clearing any visible obstruction.
• B — Breathing: look, listen and feel for normal breathing for no more than ten seconds.
• C — CPR: no normal breathing means start compressions and breaths at 30:2.
• D — Defibrillation: attach an automated external defibrillator as soon as one arrives and follow its voice prompts.

The steps in order

Step 1: Check for danger

Before touching the person, scan the scene. Traffic, live power, fire, chemicals, aggressive people and unstable furniture can all turn a rescuer into a second casualty. Control the hazard or move the person out of it — a drag by the ankles or wrists is acceptable when the environment is unsafe — because a collapsed casualty cannot be helped by an injured rescuer.

Step 2: Check for response

Kneel beside the person, speak loudly to them — “Can you hear me? Open your eyes” — and squeeze their shoulders firmly. Any reaction, including sounds or eye movement, means the person is responsive: keep talking, monitor their condition and manage the scene until help arrives. No response at all means you treat them as unconscious and move straight to the next step.

Step 3: Send for help

Call Triple Zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance. Put the phone on speaker so your hands stay free; the operator will coach you through the steps and ask questions that help the paramedics. If a bystander is present, send them for the nearest AED — most public buildings, stations and workplaces display one — because a defibrillator is the only way to reset a shockable heart rhythm — ALIT’s guide to using an AED defibrillator walks through the steps.

Step 4: Open the airway

Place one hand on the forehead and the fingertips of your other hand under the chin, then tilt the head back and lift the chin. This lifts the tongue off the back of the throat, the most common obstruction in an unconscious adult. Check the mouth for visible material — vomit or a displaced denture, for instance — and remove what you can see. Never sweep the mouth blindly: reach only for what is visible.

Step 5: Check breathing

With the airway open, look for chest movement, and listen and feel for air from the mouth and nose, for no more than ten seconds. Agonal gasps — slow, noisy, irregular breaths — are not normal breathing; they are a sign of cardiac arrest and a signal to start CPR. If the person is breathing normally, roll them onto their side in the recovery position, keep monitoring, and be ready to start CPR if breathing stops.

Step 6: Start chest compressions

Place the heel of one hand on the centre of the chest — the lower half of the breastbone — put your other hand on top and interlock the fingers. Keep your arms straight, your shoulders over your hands, and push straight down about one third of the chest depth, commonly taught as roughly five centimetres for an adult. Compress at a rate of 100–120 per minute and let the chest rise fully between compressions so the heart can refill. Count thirty compressions and keep interruptions to an absolute minimum — every pause stops blood flow to the brain.

Step 7: Give two rescue breaths

After thirty compressions, pinch the soft part of the nose, seal your mouth over theirs and blow steadily for about one second, watching for the chest to rise. Give two breaths, then return immediately to compressions. If you are unwilling or unable to give breaths — no barrier, vomit, or your own safety — give continuous uninterrupted compressions instead; hands-only CPR still circulates the oxygen already in the blood and is far better than nothing.

Step 8: Attach the defibrillator and keep going

As soon as an AED arrives, switch it on, bare the chest, attach the pads as the picture guide shows and let the machine analyse. It will tell you, in voice prompts, whether a shock is advised and when to resume compressions; nobody should touch the person while it analyses or delivers a shock. Then keep cycling — thirty compressions, two breaths, rhythm checks only when the machine or the operator asks — until the person responds, paramedics take over, or you physically cannot continue.

The details that change outcomes

Survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest depends overwhelmingly on three things happening fast: an early Triple Zero call, early CPR and early defibrillation. The most common rescuer errors trainers see are compressions that are too slow, too shallow or interrupted — talking on the phone without speaker mode, pausing to find the AED pads, or waiting for a second rescuer before starting. Practising on a manikin with a feedback device, exactly as you do in a CPR course, corrects depth, rate and recoil in a way that reading an article never can. If you already hold a CPR statement of attainment, remember that the Australian Resuscitation Council recommends refreshing CPR skills every twelve months — ALIT’s guide to how often you need to redo CPR training explains the schedule.

Learning and assessing the steps at ALIT

ALIT delivers HLTAID009 Provide CPR as a 3.5-hour on-campus course at its West Melbourne campus, with weekly intakes and a listed fee of $75.00. The course covers adult, child and infant resuscitation, AED operation and the reporting duties that follow an incident; ALIT’s overview of what a CPR course includes sets out the full program. On successful assessment you receive a nationally recognised statement of attainment.

FAQ

What is the correct compression rate for adult CPR?

100–120 compressions per minute, allowing the chest to recoil fully between compressions.

What is the compression-to-breath ratio for adults?

Thirty compressions to two breaths. If breaths are not possible, continuous compressions are recommended over stopping altogether.

How deep should adult chest compressions be?

About one third of the chest depth — commonly taught as roughly five centimetres for an adult.

Can I do CPR if I have never been trained?

Yes. Call 000, put the phone on speaker and follow the operator’s instructions; hands-only CPR is effective and any attempt is better than none. Formal training is what makes the steps automatic.

Is CPR the same for children and infants?

No. Technique, hand placement, depth and ratios change for children and infants, and the initial action sequence can differ. Both variations are covered and assessed in the HLTAID009 course.

Related ALIT guide: the adult compression to breath ratio explained.