You are on your own on the scene of an accident in which an injured person needs resuscitation. Should you proceed to performing resuscitation without a prior call for help?

In the photo a rescuer in a vest is doing chest compressions on a person lying on their back. When you are alone at the scene of an accident, you should not start resuscitation without first calling for help - first you call 112, and only then do you start compressions. The answer is: no.

The State Emergency Medical Services Act obliges anyone who notices a person in a sudden medical emergency to notify without delay the services set up by law to give help, and the Criminal Code provides for a penalty for failing to help a person in a situation that threatens their life. The order comes from a simple calculation: on your own, you will not keep up effective compressions for more than a few minutes, and a casualty in cardiac arrest needs a defibrillator and an emergency medical team - the sooner they set off, the greater the chance of survival. You call with the speaker on, give the location and the condition of the person, and the dispatcher will guide you through resuscitation; you start compressions immediately after reporting, without putting the phone away. If someone else is nearby, you share the tasks: one person calls, the other does compressions.

Legal basis: Art. 4 of the State Emergency Medical Services Act; Art. 162 of the Criminal Code