🖨️ Print Emergency Action Cards

9 life-saving cards for your fridge, first aid kit, or workplace

← Back to emergency guide
😵

NOT RESPONDING — Call 999 + Start CPR

Step 1: Check response

  • Shake shoulders firmly
  • Shout "Can you hear me?"

Step 2: No response? Call 999 (speaker on)

Step 3: Check breathing (10 secs)

  • Tilt head back, lift chin
  • Look, listen, feel for breath
NOT BREATHING? START CPR:
• Heel of hand on centre of chest
• Arms straight, push DOWN 5-6cm
• 100-120 pushes/min (Stayin' Alive beat)
• Don't stop until help arrives
If they ARE breathing: Put on side (recovery position)
Any CPR is better than no CPR. The 999 operator will guide you.
📞 Call 999 — Start CPR
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🦠

SEPSIS — Call 999

Someone with an infection who has ANY of:

  • Slurred speech or confusion
  • Extreme shivering or muscle pain
  • Not passed urine all day
  • Severe breathlessness
  • "I feel like I might die"
  • Skin mottled, bluish, or very pale
👶 Children: Also watch for not feeding, floppy, fits, mottled skin, breathing fast
What to do:
  • Call 999 immediately
  • Say: "I think it might be sepsis"
📞 Call 999 — Say "Sepsis"
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❤️

HEART ATTACK — Call 999

Warning signs:

  • Chest pain or pressure (may come and go)
  • Pain spreading to arm, jaw, neck, or back
  • Shortness of breath
  • Cold sweat, nausea, dizziness
  • Overwhelming sense of dread
⚠️ Women & Diabetics: May NOT have chest pain — watch for nausea, jaw pain, extreme fatigue, back pain
What to do:
  • Call 999 — don't wait
  • Help them sit down
  • Chew 1 aspirin (300mg) if over 16 and not allergic
  • Be ready to do CPR
📞 Call 999
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🧠

STROKE — Call 999

The FAST test:

  • Face — Has it dropped on one side?
  • Arms — Can they raise both?
  • Speech — Is it slurred or strange?
  • Time — Call 999 immediately
Also watch for: Sudden severe headache, vision changes, confusion, dizziness
What to do:
  • Call 999 — note when symptoms started
  • Do NOT give aspirin
  • Do NOT give food or drink
📞 Call 999
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⚠️

ANAPHYLAXIS — Call 999

Severe allergic reaction signs:

  • Difficulty breathing or wheezing
  • Swelling of tongue or throat
  • Feeling faint or collapsing
  • Rash WITH breathing problems
What to do:
  • Call 999 — say "anaphylaxis"
  • Use adrenaline pen into outer thigh
  • Through clothing is fine
⚠️ POSITION MATTERS:
Can breathe OK? → Lie flat, legs up
Struggling to breathe? → Sit them UP
Never let them stand or walk
📞 Call 999 — Say "Anaphylaxis"
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🔴

MENINGITIS — Call 999

Warning signs:

  • Severe headache
  • Stiff neck (can't touch chin to chest)
  • High fever with cold hands/feet
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Vomiting, confusion
  • Rash that doesn't fade
🥛 Glass Test: Press glass on rash. If it doesn't fade → call 999
👶 Babies: Bulging fontanelle, high-pitched cry, floppy, refusing feeds
Rash may appear LATE or not at all. Trust: "Never been this ill"
📞 Call 999
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🫁

CHOKING — Act Now

Can't cough, speak, or breathe?

🧑 Adults & Children Over 1:
  • 5 back blows — between shoulder blades
  • 5 abdominal thrusts — fist above belly button
  • Repeat until clear or unconscious
👶 Babies Under 1: 5 back blows + 5 CHEST thrusts (NOT abdominal)
If unconscious: Start CPR — compressions may dislodge object
📞 Call 999 if not clearing
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🩸

SEVERE BLEEDING — Call 999

Blood spurting, soaking through, or won't stop?

What to do:
  • Press hard on wound
  • Keep pressing — don't lift to check
  • If soaks through, add more on top
  • Raise injury above heart
  • Call 999
  • Keep them warm
Object stuck? Do NOT remove — press around it
Signs of blood loss: Pale, cold, clammy, fast weak pulse → Lie down, legs raised
📞 Call 999
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⚡

SEIZURE / FIT

DO:
  • Protect their head (cushion it)
  • Move dangerous objects away
  • Time the seizure
  • Stay with them until recovered
DO NOT:
• Restrain them — let it happen
• Put anything in their mouth
• Move them unless in danger
Call 999 if: First seizure, over 5 mins, don't regain consciousness, injured, pregnant, in water, or unsure

Most seizures stop within 2-3 minutes

📞 Call 999 if needed
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