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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · CPR and Resuscitation

Rescue breaths

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

/ˈreskjuː breθs/nounCore term

In emergency medicine & first aid, rescue breaths means: Breaths that a rescuer blows into a person's lungs, mouth to mouth or through a mask, when that person is not breathing normally.

In Turkish: kurtarıcı soluk, suni solunum, yapay solunum

How it is used

Used in CPR training and guidelines, usually in the plural: give two rescue breaths. Lay people often say 'mouth-to-mouth' or, in the UK, 'the kiss of life'. Professionals usually give breaths with a pocket mask or a bag-valve-mask rather than mouth to mouth.

Example sentences

  1. The dispatcher told her to skip the rescue breaths and just push on the chest.

  2. I gave two rescue breaths but his chest didn't rise.

Common collocations

  • give rescue breaths
  • two rescue breaths
  • mouth-to-mouth
  • pocket mask
  • CPRShort for cardiopulmonary resuscitation: chest compressions, often with rescue breaths, given to someone whose heart has stopped, to keep blood and oxygen moving to the brain.
  • chest compressionsHard, fast, rhythmic pushes on the centre of the chest during CPR that squeeze the heart and keep some blood flowing to the brain.
  • bag-valve-maskA hand-held device with a self-inflating bag and a face mask, squeezed to push air or oxygen into the lungs of someone who is not breathing adequately.
  • airwayThe passage that air travels through from the nose and mouth to the lungs; in emergencies, the question is whether it is open or blocked.

More terms: CPR and Resuscitation

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.