An HCA is providing personal care for a resident when the resident suddenly becomes unresponsive, stops breathing, and has no pulse. What is the HCA's immediate first step in this situation?

Question: An HCA is providing personal care for a resident when the resident suddenly becomes unresponsive, stops breathing, and has no pulse. What is the HCA's immediate first step in this situation?

Answer options: ✅ Activate the emergency response system or call for help (e.g., Code Blue).

• Begin chest compressions immediately.
• Go to find the resident's care plan for emergency instructions.
• Place the resident in the recovery position.

Correct answer: Activate the emergency response system or call for help (e.g., Code Blue).

Explanation: While starting chest compressions is crucial for cardiac arrest, the absolute first step for an HCA finding an unresponsive, pulseless, non-breathing resident is to activate the facility's emergency response system or yell for help. This ensures that trained personnel (RN/LPN) and the resuscitation team are en route, and brings a defibrillator if available, while compressions are then started.