CHILD CPR
Again, this page is not meant to teach
you CPR.
It is meant to provide a resource for
studying and reviewing only.
- Child CPR is very similar to Adult CPR, with a few exceptions.
These exceptions have been placed in italics to aid in finding
them.
- Establish unresponsiveness. This means to shake and shout
at the victim to try to rouse him/her.
- Call for help after one minutes of doing CPR. This
one minute delay (if you are alone) gets CPR started faster since
cardiac arrest in children is often caused by some other source
(such as respiratory arrest). Thus, it is more likely that the
heart will begin beating again if CPR is started quickly. If someone
else is around, have them do it and return. DO NOT HAVE THEM WAIT
A MINUTE BEFORE CALLING.
- Open the airway using the head-tilt/chin-lift method as described
in the adult CPR page.
- Check for breathing by placing your ear next to the victim's
mouth. Look, listen and feel for 3 to 5 seconds.
- Give two slow breaths and watch for the chest to rise. Allow
the victim to exhale through normal relaxation before giving the
next breath.
- Check for a carotid pulse (in the neck) for five to ten seconds.
If the victim is not breathing but has a pulse, perform rescue
breathing by giving one breath every three seconds. (Give
about 20 breaths per minute.) If the victim's heart is not beating,
expose the chest and find the proper hand placement. To do this,
move your fingers up the rib cage until they come together. Place
two fingers at this junction (above the xyphoid process). Then
place the heel of your other hand directly above these two fingers,
and place the other hand on top of it (inter-linking fingers if
you choose).
- Compress the chest 1 inch to 1 ½ inches and release.
Repeat 5 times. Keep your arms straight and pivot at the
hips, using your body weight to compress the chest, not your arm
strength. Be sure to keep your hands on the victim's chest, so
you don't bounce off of the correct position. Also, be sure to
compress straight down, not at an angle.
- Compress the chest at a rate of 100 per minute.
- After you have given five chest compressions, give
one breath. Continue this procedure for twenty cycles
(about one minutes). After this, stop and reassess breathing and
heart beat. If help has not been called, go call now and return
quickly. If no pulse, continue the process of 5 compressions
to 1 breath, stopping every few minutes to reassess.
- CPR should not be stopped for more than 30 seconds, unless
one of the conditions for stopping is met.
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