Aspiration and Vomiting: During CPR

Can Someone Vomit During CPR? | How to Handle Vomit and Bodily Fluids During First Aid CPR

Thanks so much for popping in with us today. We're throwing some more content together for frequently asked questions we get in our First Aid, CPR, and AED classes. One of them is PPE and actually giving mouth-to-mouth breath. Just remember that we have hands-only compression-only CPR. So, if you're ever in a situation as a lay rescuer where you're in a community setting, maybe at work, and you're uncomfortable giving mouth-to-mouth breathing, you can do what we call hands-compression-only CPR, where you do non-stop, without interruption or pause, compressions on the chest.

You have your 30 count, and you keep repeating that 30 count over and over without pause or interruption. So the question comes up, "What do we do if somebody vomites as a result of giving CPR," which can certainly happen. Usually, about 1 in 20 cases will involve vomit happening or occurring during CPR. So, with that said, in the event somebody vomits while performing CPR, what do we do? Why could this be a potential problem?

During CPR cycles, when we see a victim vomit, we want to roll them quickly to their side, and if possible, either do a sweep or allow adequate drainage so that there's no back flow or fill of vomit in the mouth, which can lead the person to have a breathing emergency outside of a cardiac arrest. This can result in aspiration (fluids going into the lungs). Aspiration can have negative consequences including airway obstruction, infections, or even pneumonia.

So, the person may actually inhale fluids like vomit during CPR cycles. With that said, roll the person in a recovery position (on their side), sweep if possible, or allow fluids to drain. Once empty or out, we want to roll them back and continue care for cardiac emergencies, which is CPR cycles.