Welcome!We’re excited that you’ve decided to take Child and Infant CPR, and that you’ve chosen us to direct your learning experience. Show
You never know when you may be called upon to perform CPR on a child or infant. All parents, grandparents, babysitters, older siblings, daycare workers, teachers and anyone else who lives or works with children should learn how to perform CPR when disaster strikes. CPR can save a child’s life by providing the brain, heart and other organs with life-giving oxygen in the event of respiratory and/or cardiac arrest. Drowning, poisoning, accidents, smoke inhalation and SIDS are only a few of the emergencies that could result in death if not treated quickly. In this course, you will learn:
Let’s get started! Two Rescuer CPR for Children (aged 1 year to puberty)When two rescuers are present, performing CPR on a child is the same as performing CPR on an adult, except that the compression ventilation ratio when 2 rescuers are present drops to 15:2. One or two hands may be used to compress the chest to a depth of 1/3 the diameter of the chest. Remember that compressions should be done when there is no pulse present or when the child’s heart rate is less than 60 beats a minute and there are signs of poor perfusion.Rescuers should trade off performing compressions every two minutes to avoid fatigue. CPR for Infants (up to 12 months of age)CPR for infants is similar to CPR for adults and children. There are a few differences as follows:
The Pediatric Chain of SurvivalThe pediatric chain of survival can be thought of as a sequence of events that must occur in order to restore health in a child or infant victim of sudden cardiac arrest. Because children are more prone to respiratory arrest and shock, it is essential to recognize and prevent airway and breathing problems before they occur to prevent cardiac arrest and to ensure survival and full recovery. For this reason, the most important link in the pediatric chain of survival is prevention. Unintentional injuries are the number one cause of death in children. Children’s lives can be saved by focusing on prevention of emergencies. Knowing CPR is important, but even more important is ensuring that CPR is never needed in the first place! Therefore, the Pediatric Chain of Survival includes:
One Rescuer Child CPRIf you are alone and come across a child who is down, follow the steps below. If someone else is immediately available to assist, use the ‘Two Rescuer’ sequence. Stay Safe: If you come upon a child who may need CPR, look around and make sure you and the child are in a safe place. If the child is in water or on a road, try to move the child to a safer area. If you are in a safe area, do not try to move the child as he/she may have other injuries that you cannot see. Simply roll him/her over onto his back. Make sure the child is on a firm surface, in case compressions are needed. Assess the Victim: To quickly assess the victim, shake his shoulder and yell at him. Check for breathing. If he/she is not breathing, or is
not breathing normally (i.e., only gasping), shout for help. Begin CPR
*Signs of poor perfusion: this refers to a lack of blood flow that results in certain visible signs, including pale skin color or bluish discoloration of the skin. Fingers, earlobes, lips and nail beds may look bluish or light gray. Sometimes there may be mottling, which is a mixture of a purplish or blotchy red-blue coloring on the extremities (arms or legs). One Rescuer CPR for Infants (up to 12 months of age)If you are the lone rescuer of an infant:
Two Rescuer CPR for Infants (up to 12 months of age)If there are 2 rescuers available:
Mouth-to-Mouth-and Nose BreathingTo provide breaths to an infant when there is no face mask available:
You may wonder how mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-mouth-and-nose breathing can sustain the victim. In actual fact, your expired air contains about 17% oxygen- this is just enough oxygen to meet the victim’s needs for a brief period of time. When providing mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-mouth-and-nose breathing, it is important not to provide breaths that are too forceful or too rapid. Doing so may cause air to enter the stomach rather than the lungs, which can cause gastric inflation. Gastric inflation may result in vomiting, and an unconscious victim may develop pneumonia if vomitus makes its way to the lungs. To avoid gastric inflation, give each breath slowly over 1 second and deliver just enough air to make the chest rise. Rescue BreathingRespiratory arrest is defined as the cessation of breathing. During respiratory arrest, as well as when there is inadequate breathing, the victim will still have some amount of cardiac output, which you will be able to detect as a palpable pulse. It is important to be able to recognize respiratory arrest, or impending respiratory arrest, which may be seen as slow, irregular or gasping respirations. These abnormal respirations are inadequate to support life. Respiratory arrest inevitably leads to cardiac arrest if not treated, therefore rescuers should intervene quickly to prevent this deterioration by providing rescue breathing. For children and infants, give one breath every 3-5 seconds (12-20 breaths per minute). Check for a pulse every 2 minutes- if the victim loses their pulse, begin chest compressions combined with breaths. Choking in the Conscious Child (older than 1 year of age)
Choking in the Conscious Infant (less than 12 months of age)
Choking in the Unconscious Child
Choking in the Unconscious Infant
CPR Certification Skills Review
When a child or infant has a pulse of 60 minute or less with poor perfusion you should begin rescue breaths versus compressions?If you are not sure you can feel the pulse, the pulse is absent or the infant's heart rate is below 60 beats per minute with signs of poor perfusion (pale or bluish discoloration in the face, extremities or nail beds), start CPR, beginning with 30 compressions followed by two breaths.
What is the CPR ratio for a 4 year old?Children undergoing CPR should receive two breaths after every 30 chest compressions if there is a single rescuer. They should receive the two breaths after every 15 chest compressions if there are two rescuers.
What is the correct rate of ventilation for a child in respiratory failure?Give ventilations (1 every 5–6 seconds for adult; 1 every 3–5 seconds for child or baby).
How many times per minute should you ventilate a 4 year old who is not breathing and has a pulse of 100 beats per minute?Instead the compressing rescuer should deliver at least 100 compressions per minute continuously without pauses for ventilation. The ventilation rescuer delivers 8 to 10 breaths per minute (a breath every 6 to 8 seconds), being careful to avoid excessive ventilation in the stressful environment of a pediatric arrest.
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