1. Are they conscious?
Talk to them loudly. If they do not respond, use gentle stimulation, such as tapping their shoulders. No pinching or shaking (NTP 1062).
2. Open the airway
If they do not respond, open the airway with the head tilt-chin lift (one hand on the forehead and the other on the chin). An in-person course teaches it on a manikin.
3. Are they breathing normally?
Check with look, listen and feel: watch whether the chest moves, listen and feel for air. It takes no less than 5 seconds and no more than 10.
- If they do not respond and are not breathing normally, suspect cardiac arrest: call 112 and start CPR (module 4).
- If they do not respond but are breathing, put them in the recovery position, call 112 and check they keep breathing. The recovery position keeps the airway open and stops them choking if they vomit (112 SOS Deiak poster).
The recovery position, like CPR, is learned by practising: an in-person course teaches you to turn the person without hurting them.
Source: INSST, NTP 1062: Primeros auxilios: soporte vital básico en el adulto (adult basic life support, in Spanish), checking consciousness and breathing · Gobierno Vasco, Osakidetza and 112 SOS Deiak: «Primeros auxilios» poster (in Spanish), recovery position