Calling for help, dispatcher-assisted CPR and getting an AED

Once you recognize cardiac arrest, three things need to happen as fast as possible: emergency services must be called, an AED must be brought to the person, and CPR must start. If several people are present, these can happen at the same time. If you are alone, you must decide what to do first. This lesson explains how to activate the emergency response, how 9-1-1 dispatchers help callers give CPR, how to find and fetch an AED quickly, and the legal protection that exists for people who help.

If others are present: delegate clearly

In an emergency, people often stand and watch, each assuming someone else has already called. This is sometimes called the bystander effect. Break it by giving clear, specific instructions to named people. Point at someone and say: "You in the blue jacket, call 9-1-1, put it on speaker and bring the phone here. You, get the AED from the lunchroom and come straight back." Then start compressions. Specific instructions to identified people get faster results than shouting "Someone call an ambulance!"

At a workplace, the emergency plan should also say who else to notify: the first aid team, security or reception so they can meet the ambulance at the entrance and guide paramedics to the right floor, and a supervisor. These tasks should not delay the 9-1-1 call itself.

If you are alone with an adult

Most phones can now call emergency services hands-free on speaker. If you are alone with an adult who has collapsed, call 9-1-1 on your phone, put it on speaker beside you and start CPR while you talk to the dispatcher. If an AED is close by and you know exactly where it is, guidelines suggest getting it before starting CPR when you are alone with an adult, because in adults the most common cause of sudden collapse is a heart rhythm problem that a shock may correct. If you have no phone, you may have to leave briefly to call and fetch an AED, then return and start CPR.

If you are alone with a child or infant

In children and infants, cardiac arrest is more often caused by a breathing problem such as choking, drowning or a respiratory illness. A short period of CPR, including rescue breaths, may restore oxygen and prevent the heart from stopping completely. If you are alone with an unresponsive child or infant who is not breathing normally and you have a phone, call 9-1-1 on speaker and start CPR right away. If you have no phone, give about 2 minutes of CPR before leaving to call for help, and carry an infant with you if you can. Lesson 8 covers CPR for children and infants.

What the dispatcher will ask

Emergency call-takers follow structured questions to send the right help as quickly as possible. Expect to be asked for the location first, because if the call drops, they can still send help. Be ready with the full civic address, the building name or number, the entrance to use, the floor and room, and a callback number. On a large industrial site, a farm or a highway, describe landmarks, highway distance markers, gate numbers or GPS coordinates; many phones can display them. Then the dispatcher will ask what happened, whether the person is awake and whether they are breathing normally. Answer the breathing question precisely: say if the person is gasping.

Phones can also share location automatically. In both Canada and the US, wireless calls to 9-1-1 provide location information to the call centre, and the move to Next Generation 9-1-1 networks is improving accuracy and adding features such as text messaging for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. Do not rely on automatic location alone, especially inside large buildings: always state where you are.

Dispatcher-assisted CPR

Dispatchers in many communities are trained to recognize cardiac arrest from the caller's answers and to coach the caller through CPR over the phone. This is called dispatcher-assisted CPR or telephone CPR. The dispatcher will usually instruct you to put the phone on speaker, place the person on their back on a firm surface, put the heel of your hand in the centre of the chest and push hard and fast, often counting out loud with you to keep the rate between 100 and 120 compressions a minute. For adults, dispatchers usually coach hands-only CPR, which is easier to teach over the phone. For children and infants, the 2025 guidelines encourage dispatchers to coach rescue breaths as well, because their cardiac arrests are more often caused by a lack of oxygen.

Dispatcher-assisted CPR has been shown to increase bystander CPR rates and survival. It means that even someone with no training can give CPR. Stay on the line, follow instructions and keep compressing until the dispatcher tells you to stop, an AED is ready, paramedics take over, or the person starts to wake up, move or breathe normally.

Finding an AED

An AED is only useful if people know where it is. AEDs in public places and workplaces are usually mounted in wall cabinets with a recognizable sign: a white heart with a lightning bolt on a green background is widely used, defined in the international standard for safety signs. Look near main entrances, reception desks, elevators, lunchrooms, gyms and security offices. Many cabinets have an alarm that sounds when opened; that is normal, so do not let it stop you.

In Canada, many provinces and communities maintain registries of public AEDs that 9-1-1 dispatchers can use to direct callers to the nearest device. Some jurisdictions and emergency services use smartphone apps that alert trained volunteers to nearby cardiac arrests and show the location of registered AEDs. Manitoba's Defibrillator Public Access Act requires AEDs at designated public places to be registered, and other provinces encourage voluntary registration. A workplace that has an AED should register it with the local or provincial registry if one exists, and keep its information current.

Good Samaritan protection

A common fear is being sued for helping. In Canada, every province and territory protects people who provide emergency help in good faith. Statutes such as Ontario's Good Samaritan Act, 2001, Alberta's Emergency Medical Aid Act and British Columbia's Good Samaritan Act protect volunteers who help without expecting payment from liability for harm unless they are grossly negligent. Ontario's Chase McEachern Act (Heart Defibrillator Civil Liability), 2007, specifically protects people who use an AED in good faith in an emergency, and other provinces have similar AED provisions. Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms goes further: it places a duty on everyone to help a person whose life is in peril, if they can do so without serious risk to themselves or others, and its Civil Code protects people who help from liability except for intentional or gross fault. In practice, lawsuits against bystanders who give CPR are extremely rare.

Good Samaritan protections generally apply to people acting voluntarily. Workers who are designated first aiders and are performing their job duties are usually covered instead by their employer's responsibilities and insurance; the workplace program described in Lesson 11 should make this clear. Either way, the law is designed to encourage people to help.

Consent

A person in cardiac arrest is unresponsive and cannot give consent. The law treats this as implied consent: it is assumed that a reasonable person would want life-saving help. You do not need to ask anyone's permission to start CPR. If a family member objects or shows you a valid do-not-resuscitate document, follow the dispatcher's advice; in most workplaces and public places, start CPR unless there is a clear and valid reason not to.

Planning the call at work

Workplaces can make the call faster by preparing it in advance. Post the full civic address, the nearest cross-street and the entrance paramedics should use beside every phone and at each AED cabinet. On large sites, number the gates and doors and give these numbers to the local emergency service. Make sure internal phone systems can dial 9-1-1 directly without a prefix, or post the prefix clearly. Decide in advance who meets the ambulance and who holds the elevator, and include these roles in drills so they happen automatically.

Finally, remember that the caller has an important job even after help is on the way. Keeping the line open lets the dispatcher update the arriving crew, coach compressor switches and tell you when paramedics are close.