Tool 11 · Grounding & In-the-moment
Panic First-Aid Card
A printable single-page card you can read while panicking. Fill in your emergency contact, print it, fold it into a wallet. We won't ask you to log in.
Customise this card
Edit the contact fields. The card below updates as you type. Print it, screenshot it, or copy the text version.
Panic First-Aid Card
For you — read this slowly, one line at a time.
Quietude
Name what's happening
Say, out loud or in your head: "This is a panic attack. It will pass. It has before."
It usually peaks within 10 minutes and is mostly gone within 30.
Breathe: 4-7-8
Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds.
Hold for 7 seconds.
Exhale through the mouth for 8 seconds.
Repeat 4 cycles. If 4-7-8 makes you light-headed, switch to 4-in, 6-out.
Ground: 5-4-3-2-1
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can touch
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
Re-orient
Name the date and where you are.
Press your feet into the floor. Notice the pressure.
Hold something cold — a glass of water, a key, the back of your wrist under a tap.
Move — even just standing up, or shaking out your hands.
Talk to yourself like a friend
"This is a panic attack. I am safe. It will pass. I have been here before."
"I don't have to do anything right now. I can just sit."
"The worst part is the fear of the fear. The sensation itself is not dangerous."
Reach out (if you need to)
Call or text your emergency contact.
Call your clinician during business hours.
Text a safe person.
In an emergency: 911 (US) / 999 (UK) / 112 (EU) / 120 (CN main).
Crisis line: 988 (US) / 116 123 (UK Samaritans).
If chest pain is new, severe, or radiates — call emergency services. Panic can mimic a heart attack; better to check.
What this actually does
A panic attack is a false alarm: the body mounts a "fight-or-flight" response with no actual threat. The sensations are real — racing heart, tight chest, tingling hands, dizziness — but the threat isn't. The first aid card exists to interrupt two things: the catastrophic thought ("I'm dying") and the runaway loop between thought and sensation. Reading slowly does the interrupting. Each line you finish is a small piece of attention that didn't go to the spiral.
Printable matters more than it sounds. A panic attack scrambles your screen-time memory and your phone is easy to misplace or unlock in the wrong order. A printed card in a wallet, a sticky on the fridge, or a screenshot on a lock screen is more reliably reachable than the open web. The copy-as-text option makes the same content available in places that don't have a browser.
Who it's for
For people who experience panic attacks. For people who live with someone who does. For therapists who want a take-home handout for new clients. For people whose panic is mostly the fear of panic ("I'm scared I'll panic in the supermarket") — having a card is itself a small dose of safety.
If you've never had a panic attack, you probably don't need this card — but you might want the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding tool or the body scan instead.
Limitations
This card is first aid, not treatment. It will shorten a panic attack; it will not prevent the next one. It also doesn't replace a clinician's input on whether your symptoms need ruling out (thyroid, cardiac, medication side effects). New chest pain, especially with shortness of breath or radiating arm pain, should be checked by emergency services — panic can mimic a heart attack, but so can a heart attack mimic panic.
How to read your results
You'll know it worked because the panic passed. There is no "score" — and trying to rate your panic ("was this a 7 or an 8?") often makes it worse. If you find yourself using the card repeatedly without improvement, that's information for a clinician, not a failure of the card.
Common questions
Will this work during a real panic attack? ▾
It will help. Panic attacks typically peak within 10 minutes and resolve within 30. Reading this card slowly almost always shortens that. What it won't do is stop the next one from happening — that's a separate problem (and often a treatment question).
Why doesn't it list medication? ▾
Medication is between you and your prescriber. We don't want a printout on the internet quietly becoming part of someone's treatment plan. If you have a prescribed emergency medication, add it by hand to your printed card in the "Reach out" section.
Can I share this with someone who panics? ▾
Yes. Print two copies, fill theirs in with their contact, give it to them. The most useful thing a friend or partner can do during a panic attack is often hand someone a card rather than say "calm down".
Is this a substitute for therapy? ▾
No. It's first aid. If panic attacks are happening more than once a month, or if the fear of having one is shaping your life (avoiding places, people, transport), that's the threshold where a clinician's input usually helps. This card sits alongside that — it doesn't replace it.
What are the common mistakes when using Panic First-Aid Card?
Most common mistakes come down to four habits: entering 20 when the field expects 0.2 because the field is a percentage; leaving a field blank and accepting the default without checking what it stands for; changing one input and reading a result that was calculated before the change; and quoting the output as an exact figure when the page describes it as a reference estimate. Press calculate again after any edit, and treat the number as a reference point rather than a final answer.Advertisement