Two hands.
Two inches.
110 a minute.
When someone's heart stops, the person most likely to save them is whoever is standing nearby. In Alabama, that's often a high schooler who already learned CPR in health class. This site helps you remember it and use it.
Push on a firm pillow or cushion in time with the pulse. Real CPR keeps going until help arrives or an AED tells you to stop.
What to do, in order
For a teen or adult who suddenly collapses, these four links make up the chain of survival. Each one buys time for the next.
Check
Tap their shoulders and shout. If they don't respond and aren't breathing normally (gasping doesn't count), act now.
Call 911
Put your phone on speaker, or point at one person and tell them to call. The dispatcher can coach you through every step.
Push
Hard and fast in the center of the chest, about two inches deep, 100 to 120 times a minute. Switch with someone every two minutes if you can.
Shock
Send someone for the AED. Turn it on and follow its voice prompts. It only shocks if the heart needs it.
Every minute counts
Without blood flow, the brain starts to suffer within minutes, and ambulances often take longer than that to arrive. Bystander CPR keeps blood moving until they do.
Most cardiac arrests happen at home, so the person you save is most likely someone you know: a parent, a grandparent, a coach, a friend.
out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the U.S. each year, and about 90% are fatal.
Bystander CPR given before EMS arrives has been shown to double survival compared with no CPR.
of adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in a home.
higher odds of surviving to hospital discharge when a bystander uses a public AED.
You're trained, equipped, and protected
Alabama has required CPR instruction in high school health class since 1984, and the rules got stronger in 2024.
Code of Ala. §16-40-8CPR in health class
Public schools with grades 9–12 must teach CPR, including hands-on practice, and AED use as part of the required health course. Act 2024-114 added the AED and hands-on requirements.
Code of Ala. §16-1-45An AED at school
Every public K–12 school must have an AED and at least one person trained to use it. Know where yours is before you need it.
Code of Ala. §6-5-332Good Samaritan
People who give emergency care in good faith to someone in cardiac arrest, including using an AED, are protected from civil lawsuits. You don't need a certification card to help.
What stops people, and why it shouldn't
Alabama's Good Samaritan law protects people who help in good faith during cardiac arrest. Doing nothing is the only wrong answer.
For a teen or adult who collapses suddenly, hands-only CPR works. Push hard and fast and skip the breaths.
Ribs can crack during strong compressions. That heals. Without CPR, a person in cardiac arrest will die.
AEDs analyze the heart rhythm and only deliver a shock when it's needed. The device talks you through every step.
No law sets a minimum age for helping. Teens are strong enough to give effective compressions.
Bystanders start CPR in only about 4 of every 10 cardiac arrests. Be the one who moves first.
Share it at home and in your town
Students carry what they learn back to their families. Here's how everyone can join in.
Students
- Teach the four steps to two people at home this week.
- Find your school's AED and tell a friend where it is.
- Join or start a CPR or Red Cross club.
Parents & grandparents
- Ask your teen to show you hands-only CPR. It takes two minutes.
- Learn where the AED is at church, work, and the gym.
- Put CPR on the family to-do list.
Coaches & community groups
- Have an emergency plan for every game and practice.
- Host a hands-only CPR demo before a meeting or event.
- Keep AED pads and batteries current.
Alabama voices
Have you given CPR, been saved by it, or watched a class change someone's mind? Share what happened. Every story is read by the site team before it appears here.
Turn awareness into a certificate
Health class gives you the basics. A full course gives you a certification card you can list on applications and use for jobs like lifeguarding and camp counseling.