Adults may suddenly stop breathing for a number of reasons such as obstructed airway, head injury, heart attack, drowning, stroke, allergic reaction, or asthma.

You can tell that a person has stopped breathing by looking for these signs:
* their chest does not rise and fall,
* you can feel no air moving in and out of their nose and mouth,
* when you put your ear to the person's mouth and nose, you cannot hear air moving in and out, and
* their skin becomes pale or bluish.

If a person has stopped breathing, immediate emergency action is needed. Call 9-1-1 for an ambulance. Then take these actions:

Lay the person on their back.Make sure they are not breathing.Open the airway by slightly tilting the forehead back and lifting the chin upward.If any foreign object is visible in the mouth or throat, remove it.Pinch the person's nose shut.Breathe into the person's mouth with your mouth. Make a tight seal with your lips around the person's mouth.Give two slow breaths.Let the person exhale by removing your mouth between breaths. The person's chest should rise and fall.Blow a breath in every five seconds until the person starts to breathe on his own or until emergency help arrives.If there is no pulse, you will need to do CPR, which includes chest compressions.If you cannot breathe air into the person and make the chest rise, they may have an obstructed airway. You will need to do the Heimlich maneuver (pushing on the abdomen) to relieve the obstruction.

The American Heart Association and the American Red Cross conduct classes in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. For more information about cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and other life-saving techniques, contact the American Heart Association at (800) 242-8271.

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