<jats:p>The material is devoted to an urgent problem, a discussion of the basic principles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which is a vital key to achieving an effective outcome in children with out– or (in-) hospital circulatory arrest. The current recommendations of the world’s leading scientific and practical community – the American Heart Association and the European Council for Intensive Care, dealing with CPR in adults, children and newborns, are presented with a logical, step–by-step and detailed discussion. The basic principles of basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation are described step by step. An important element of the CPR algorithm is to identify the possible most common causes of circulatory arrest. Modern recommendations define the use of capnometry as mandatory in patients who have undergone tracheal intubation. Currently, a fairly clear algorithm for conducting both basic and advanced CPR in children has been formed.</jats:p>