Monday, February 8, 2010

How to do CPR for infants and choking

Notice that these infant CPR steps are nearly identical to adult CPR steps with the following key differences:
Be careful not to tilt the head too far.
If you are alone, perform 5 cycles of CPR (about 2 minutes) then call 911
Cover mouth and nose with your mouth and give gentle breaths.
Use two fingertips instead of two hands for chest compressions.
Depth of compresssions is based on the size of the chest cavity.

Check the Scene - make sure it is safe for you to help.Don't become another victim.

Check the Victim - tap and shout to get response.
Call for Help - Tell someone to call 9-1-1.If you are alone, perform 5 cycles of CPR First, then call 9-1-1. Call 9-1-1 for any unconscious victim, including an infant that is breathing.

Airway - tilt head back, lift chin up to open airway.
Breathing - Take a normal breath, cover victim's mouth and nose with your mouth, and give a gentle breath until the chest rises.Give a second breath. Take about 1 second per breath.If chest doesn't rise, open airway again.
Circulation - pump the chest 30 times.Place two fingertips of one hand in the center of the chest.Press chest down 1/3 the depth of the chest at a rate of 100 per minute (16 in 10 seconds).

Repeat A - B - C until help arrives or the victim begins breathing.If there are two rescuers, one does the breathing and one does the compressions - CPR steps and ratios remain the same.
Remember to save an infant's life at any time!
Becoming familiar with these infant CPR instructions will help you in performing CPR correctly. This quick review of skills should not be used as training, but can be a useful refresher.
Try my CPR Wizard to step through decisions in performing infant CPR. Try my CPR Test to check your knowledge of CPR Instructions.
Next: Adult and Child Choking

No comments:

Post a Comment