If you come across someone who is unconscious, especially if that person is an adult, there is a high likelihood they experiencing an irregular heart beat called ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. If this is the cause, time is of the essence. Though the focus of Basic Life Support and CPR is airway, breathing, and circulation, another primary goal is to preserve brain function. The brain, if deprived of oxygen, will die. In V-fib or V-tach, the heart is beating too fast and in too disorganized a fashion to circulate blood and, oxygen to vital organs.

Before calling for the external automatic defibrillator, check your surroundings. Make sure there are no dangers to yourself and the victim such as downed power lines or traffic. Call out to the victim in a loud voice. If they do not respond, approach the victim, tap their shoulder, call out again, "Hey, buddy, are you okay?" The victim may be passed out from ingesting too much alcohol. At this point, you don't know. If there is no response, look, listen, and feel for breathing. If they are breathing, you don't need to check for a pulse, but you will need to continue to observe and, possibly, support breathing if that becomes compromised. If they are not breathing, check first for airway obstruction. Gently tilt the head back if there is no evidence of possible neck or spine injury. If there is, make sure the spine and neck are stable and gently lower the jaw by placing your thumb on the chin and pressing it down. Inspect the mouth for objects that might be obstructing the airway such as the tongue. If the person has had a seizure, he may have partially swallowed his tongue. Using a protective covering, do a finger sweep of the mouth. Make sure you do not push the object, if there is one, further pack in the throat. The cardinal rule of care giving is, first do no harm. If you have been able to remove the obstruction or if there is none, you can now start rescue breathing if the victim's respirations are too shallow,too few, or absent. Can you see the chest rise on both sides? Can you feel air escaping from his nose or mouth upon exhalation? Can you feel the chest rise? If you have answered no to these questions, the victim needs rescue breathing. The average person inhales and exhales 12 to 20 times per minute. The victim needs the same. When doing rescue breathing, use a protective barrier. Pinch the victim's nose, and put the barrier device or your mouth over

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