How to Open the Airway and Give Breaths With CPR?
Posted by Sydney Pulse, APRN at 7:59 am 0 Comment Print
A blocked airway can undo even perfect chest compressions. If air cannot reach the lungs, oxygen cannot reach the brain. That’s why every CPR course starts with one skill: opening the airway.
This guide breaks down how to open the airway and give breaths the right way. It also covers what changed in the October 2025 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines, and why local survival numbers make this skill worth mastering.
Why the Airway Comes First
An unconscious person often loses muscle tone in the tongue and throat. The tongue can fall backward and block the airway completely. This is the single most common cause of airway obstruction in an unresponsive patient.
Rescuers must clear that blockage before rescue breaths can work. Chest compressions alone keep some blood moving. But blood without oxygen cannot support the brain for long. The airway step connects compressions to actual oxygen delivery.
How to Perform a Head-Tilt, Chin-Lift
The AHA still lists the head-tilt, chin-lift as the standard technique for most cardiac arrest situations. Follow these steps:
- Place one palm on the patient’s forehead.
- Gently tilt the head back.
- Place two fingers of your other hand under the bony part of the chin.
- Lift the chin forward to align the airway.
This motion moves the tongue away from the back of the throat. It creates a clear, straight path for air to travel to the lungs. The 2025 AHA guidelines confirm this maneuver remains effective and well-supported by research.
When to Use a Jaw Thrust Instead
Not every situation calls for a head-tilt. If you suspect head or neck trauma, a jaw thrust is the safer first choice. This technique moves the jaw forward without tilting the neck, which lowers the risk of spinal injury.
The updated 2025 AHA Adult Basic Life Support guidelines add an important detail. If a jaw thrust and an airway adjunct fail to open the airway, trained rescuers should switch to a head-tilt, chin-lift. A patent airway takes priority over spinal precautions once other methods fail. Oxygen delivery cannot wait.
How to Give Rescue Breaths Correctly
Once the airway is open, rescue breaths restore oxygen flow. Poor technique here can hurt more than it helps, so precision matters.
For adults in respiratory arrest, give one breath every six seconds. That works out to roughly 10 breaths per minute. Each breath should last about one second and produce visible chest rise. Chest rise is your confirmation that air is reaching the lungs.
The 2025 AHA update also flags a common mistake: rescuers often deliver breaths incorrectly under stress. Some rescuers push too much air, too fast. Others deliver too little. Both extremes cause harm.
Avoid hyperventilation. Giving too many breaths or too large a volume increases pressure in the chest. This can reduce blood flow back to the heart during compressions.
Avoid hypoventilation. Giving too few breaths or too small a volume starves the body of oxygen it desperately needs.
The safest target stays simple: enough air for the chest to visibly rise, no more and no less.
The 30:2 Ratio Still Applies
For most CPR situations before an advanced airway is placed, the compression-to-ventilation ratio remains 30 compressions to 2 breaths. This ratio applies to both lay rescuers and healthcare professionals. The 2025 guidelines reaffirmed this standard after reviewing the latest resuscitation research.
Practicing this rhythm builds muscle memory. Muscle memory matters most in a real emergency, when stress makes clear thinking harder.
Why This Skill Saves Lives in Louisville
National data shows why airway and breathing skills matter. According to the 2025 CARES National Registry, bystander CPR was given in 42.5% of witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Patients who received bystander CPR survived to hospital discharge at nearly double the rate of those who did not.
Most cardiac arrests happen at home, not in public. That means family members, not paramedics, are usually the first line of defense. A parent, spouse, or coworker who knows how to open an airway and deliver breaths correctly can change the outcome before EMS ever arrives.
Louisville residents face the same odds as people everywhere. Fast, correct bystander action remains the biggest lever for survival between collapse and the arrival of Norton Healthcare or UofL Health emergency teams.
Practice Makes the Difference
Reading about airway management is a start. Performing it under guided, hands-on instruction is what builds real skill. A manikin lets you feel the resistance of a real chin lift and watch a chest actually rise with a correct breath.
That kind of practice is exactly what a certified BLS or CPR course delivers. Skills like head-tilt chin-lift, jaw thrust, and rescue breathing pace are taught, corrected, and repeated until they become automatic.
Get Trained With CPR Louisville
CPR Louisville is an American Heart Association training site. We offer initial certification and renewal in BLS for Healthcare Providers, ACLS, PALS, and CPR and First Aid. Every class is hands-on and stress-free, with small groups and real feedback on your technique.
Don’t wait for an emergency to learn these steps for the first time. Sign up for CPR certification Louisville today, or if you already work in healthcare, enroll in BLS certification Louisville to meet your facility’s requirements. Either way, you’ll walk out ready to open an airway and give breaths that actually save a life.
