CPR

/ˈsi ˈpi ˌɑr/

/ˈsipiɑ/

CPR is a way to help someone who is having a health emergency, by giving them chest compressions and rescue breaths. If a person has no pulse or has stopped breathing, CPR can sometimes save their life.

CPR is short for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the medical term for restarting the lungs and heart. Learning how to perform CPR can be lifesaving; by pushing rhythmically on a person's chest (and sometimes also checking their airway and breathing into their mouth), a rescuer can often keep them alive until paramedics arrive. The procedure is most commonly used to help someone who's had a heart attack.

Definitions of CPR

1. noun

   an emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration; the first treatment for a person who has collapsed and has no pulse and has stopped breathing; attempts to restore circulation of the blood and prevent death or brain damage due to lack of oxygen
   synonyms: cardiac resuscitation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, kiss of life, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

   type of:

   emergency procedure

   (medicine) a procedure adopted to meet an emergency (especially a medical emergency)

   resuscitation

   the act of reviving a person and returning them to consciousness