What To Do in the First 5 Minutes of a Medical Emergency

Stay calm, then act in sequence

In a medical emergency, panic wastes the minutes that matter most. Emergency physicians teach a simple order: assess, call, assist. Check whether the person is responsive and breathing. If they are unresponsive, shout for help from people nearby before doing anything else — you will need extra hands.

Call for help the right way

Dial 112 or raise an SOS from the OneSOS app. Speak slowly and give three things first: your exact location (landmark helps more than an address), what happened, and the person's condition. Do not hang up until the operator tells you to — dispatchers can guide you through CPR and bleeding control over the phone.

While you wait for the ambulance

• Unconscious but breathing: turn the person on their side (recovery position) and tilt the head back slightly to keep the airway open.
• Not breathing: start chest compressions — hard and fast in the centre of the chest, about 100–120 per minute. Do not stop until help arrives.
• Heavy bleeding: press directly on the wound with a clean cloth and keep pressing. Elevate the limb if possible.
• Suspected spine injury: do not move the person unless they are in immediate danger.

Send someone to the road to flag the ambulance — in dense localities, drivers lose precious minutes finding the exact gate. If you raised the request through OneSOS, the driver already has your live location, but a person waving at the gate still helps.