Get Fit

Chest compressions are hard work. Anyone can do it, but you have to give yourself the advantage. Be sure to position yourself OVER the patient, not next to them. If that means you have to climb on the stretcher and straddle them, do it. If the bed is too high, ask for a step stool. Lock your arms, and push with your core.

This image illustrates proper CPR positioning and form. Thank you to the El Paso Fire Department in El Paso, TX for sharing.


If chest compressions are being performed correctly, two minutes of CPR should make an Olympian tired. When a patient arrests in the hospital, an appropriate code allows three to four healthcare professionals to rotate through two minutes of compressions, followed by rest. In the field, this isn’t possible, and we recognize this. Nonetheless, your compressions are the only thing keeping this person alive (and EMS already performs many super-human feats that we in the hospital could never replicate – ie carry a 400 lb patient UP basement stairs).