The likely-hood of being involved in any medical emergency is often slim at best, many individuals will go about their lives never having dealt with any type of medical event. Although this may be a rare occurrence, by having first aid knowledge and skill you are greatly increasing your chances of successfully aiding an individual if they suddenly become unwell, or suffer a cardiac arrest. What is a cardiac arrest? This is when the heart stops beating for whatever reason, and it's a condition which often leads to the death of the individual. The cardiac arrest scenario is one which you'll typically see on medical drama programs where they are doing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and shocking them with a defibrillator. These dramatised resuscitation attempts are often littered with inaccuracies and mistakes, however you get the idea of what a cardiac arrest is.

So what do you do if an individual were to collapse in front of you suffering from a cardiac arrest, first it's important not to panic. By panicking you are losing control of what to do and this will not provide any help for the individual. Make sure you are in a safe environment. Do not approach your patient if they are in a dangerous predicament, for example, they've collapsed in the middle of a busy road. Ensure that the environment and settings allow for a safe approach so that you don't become a casualty yourself. If it is impossible to approach the patient, the call 999. If it is safe to approach, try to make contact with the individual. Once contact has been made but they are unresponsive, check to see if they are breathing or have a pulse. You can do this by leaning over their mouths and listening for breath, and by feeling for a pulse by the wrist. If you haven't done so already, you need to call 999 and ask for an ambulance.