Dispatchers Now Have Different CPR Instructions for Adults and Children
The 2025 AHA highlights emphasize that telecommunicators should not use a one-size-fits-all CPR script. Instead, dispatchers are guided to direct lay rescuers to perform Hands-Only CPR for adults and conventional CPR, including breaths, for children.
This distinction matters because pediatric arrests are more often linked to breathing problems or asphyxial causes, where ventilation is especially important. For adults, dispatcher-assisted Hands-Only CPR remains the simpler and faster public message. That age-based split is one of the more practical communication updates in the new guidelines.
References
American Heart Association. Highlights of the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC.
