Definition
An emergency life-saving procedure performed when a person's breathing or heartbeat has stopped. It combines chest compressions to circulate blood manually with rescue breaths to deliver oxygen to the lungs, keeping oxygenated blood flowing to the brain and vital organs until normal heart and lung function can be restored or advanced medical care arrives.
Plain English
A hands-on emergency technique to keep someone alive after their heart stops or they stop breathing. You push on the chest to keep blood moving and give breaths to keep oxygen going in, until help arrives.
Context Anchor
Pilots may encounter this term in emergency-response, first-aid, and passenger-care discussions, especially when planning for medical events away from immediate help.
Derivation
From Latin cardio- (heart) and pulmonary (lungs), with resuscitation from Latin resuscitare, meaning 'to revive' or 'awaken again.' The name simply describes what the procedure does: revives heart and lung function.
Why Pilots Care
A pilot or crew member may need to perform this procedure during an in-flight medical emergency until the aircraft can land and professional help arrives.
Grounding Statement
CPR is used when the immediate goal is to keep blood and oxygen moving until better medical care can take over.
Intuition Check
CPR does not mean the person is already saved. It means someone is trying to support the person's breathing and blood flow during a life-threatening emergency.
Example Sentence 1
After the passenger collapsed on the ramp, the pilot began CPR while a line worker called for an ambulance.
Example Sentence 2
All flight crew are trained to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately if a person becomes unresponsive with no pulse.