CPR Certification 2026: How It Works & the Numbers to Know (2025 AHA Guidelines)

Here is exactly how CPR certification works, and the numbers you need to know in just a few minutes. First, the thing that surprises people. CPR certification is not a standardized national exam. There is no single test you sit at a testing center.

Certification comes from completing an approved course, usually through the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. And here is the part you cannot get around. Every real certification requires a hands-on skills check. You have to physically demonstrate compressions on a mannequin in front of an instructor.

So a course that is 100% online with no skills session does not produce a card most employers will accept. Check what your employer requires before you pay for anything. The written portion is the easy part. It is a short multiple-choice test on the material, and most cards are good for two years before you renew.

Which means the written test is not really the goal. The goal is knowing the numbers cold, because in a real emergency, you will not be looking anything up. So here are the numbers. Compression rate is 100 to 120 per minute.

That is the same for adults, children, and infants. It is roughly two compressions every second. Depth changes with the size of the person. For an adult, at least two inches, and no deeper than 2.4 inches.

For a child, about two inches. For an infant, about one and a half inches. For both children and infants, that is about one third of the depth of the chest. And the ratio is 30 compressions, then two breaths.

The 2025 guidelines specifically kept that cycle, because pausing to give two breaths lets you actually watch for the chest to rise and confirm the air is going in. Now, the guidelines were updated in October 2025, and two changes are worth knowing. The chain of survival is now a single unified chain covering adults and children in the hospital and out of it, instead of separate chains. And public access to naloxone is now recommended alongside public access to defibrillators because both save lives.

Three real questions. First, you are alone and adult collapses in front of you, they are unresponsive, and you have your phone. What comes first? Call 911, put it on speaker, and get an AED, then start CPR for a witnessed adult collapse.

The most likely problem is a heart rhythm only a defibrillator fixes, so you get help and the AED coming immediately. Second, how deep do you compress an infant's chest? About one and a half inches, which is roughly one third of the depth of their chest. Depth scales with the body.

It is not the same as an adult. Third, someone grabs their throat at dinner, but they are coughing hard and you can hear them gasping. What do you do? Encourage them to keep coughing and stay right there.

A forceful cough moves more air than anything you can do. You only step in with back blows and abdominal thrusts when they cannot speak, cough, or breathe. So how do you prepare four habits? First, book a course with a hands-on skills check from the American Heart Association or the Red Cross.

Confirm it gives the specific card your job asks for, because and basic life support are not the same credential. Second, memorize the numbers until they are automatic. Rate, depth by age, and the 30 to two ratio. Those are the only things you truly must recall under pressure.

Third, practice the decision points, not just the steps. Is this person responsive? Are they breathing normally? Can they cough?

Each answer sends you down a different path and the test questions are built on exactly those forks. Fourth, learn the AED as its own skill. Turn it on, follow the voice prompts, put the pads on bare dry skin and stand clear to let it analyze. It will not shock a rhythm that should not be shocked, so using it early is safe.

So remember, there is no national CPR exam, but there is a required hands-on skills check. 100 to 120 compressions a minute for everyone, at least two inches deep for adults, about one and a half for infants, 30 compressions to two breaths, and a card that lasts about two years. One last thing and it matters. This video is study practice, not medical training, and it does not certify you.

In a real emergency, call 911. Start now with free CPR, AED, and first aid practice questions at quibank.com/en/cpr. free in English, Chinese and Spanish with no sign up.