New 2025 Guidelines emphasize interventions for choking, overdose and cardiac emergencies

The latest updates in the 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care feature major guideline changes for choking, opioid overdose, cardiac emergencies, and more, including:

• New guidance on choking in conscious children(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window) and adults(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window) recommends alternating five back blows followed by five abdominal thrusts, until the object is expelled or the person becomes unresponsive.
• Guidance for choking in infants(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window) has been updated to alternate between five back blows and five chest thrusts using the heel of one hand, until the foreign object is expelled or the infant becomes unresponsive.
• The guidelines provide a new algorithm for treating individuals with suspected opioid overdose, including public access guidance on naloxone use.
• The systems of care volunteer writing group elected to revert to a single chain of survival(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window) for all forms of cardiac arrest, whether adult or pediatric, in- or out-of-hospital.
• Evidence shows that children 12 years old or older can be taught effective CPR and defibrillation.
• To improve lay-rescuer response to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the guidelines recommend support for media campaigns, instructor-led training, and community training.