If you are able to do adult CPR then you can do child and infant CPR.
CHILD CPR:
The first thing that you should do is make sure that the scene is safe. After doing that you check to see if the child is unresponsive. The way we do this is we tap the child on the shoulder and say, “Are you OK, Are you all right, Can you hear me?” If the child says something then they are not unresponsive. If they do not respond the next step is to call out for HELP! After calling for HELP you have to open the child's airway. The way we do this is called the HEAD TILT CHIN LIFT. Put one hand on the forehead and two or three fingers underneath the chin. Gently push open the airway. You Hyperextend the airway. Then you do something called, LOOK, LISTEN and FEEL. You put your ear down to the mouth while you are looking at the chest of the child. Your listening for air sounds, feeling for a breath on your ear and looking at the chest to see if it rises. If none of those things are happening then you must deliver two breaths. The way we do this is make a gentle seal around the mouth and hold the nose. If you don’t hold the nose close then you will get snot into your ear. So you deliver two breaths. After that you check the carotid pulse (pulse in the neck) for ten seconds. If there is a pulse then you do rescue breathing. (See below) If there is no pulse then you shout, “NO PULSE CALL 911.” Then you put your hand in the middle of the chest, just one hand and you start to do compression's. You do five (5) of them. You count it as 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. (Compress the chest 1 to 1 ½ inches) After the fifth compression you give one breath. After about a minute you check the pulse. If there is no pulse you continue CPR.
CHILD RESCUE BREATHING:
Lets say that the scene is safe and you checked unresponsiveness
and you looked, listen and felt. Then you gave a breath. Now you
check the pulse and the child has a pulse. So we have a child who is unresponsive,
but has a pulse, but they are not breathing. This is called RESPIRATORY
ARREST. What we do is give one breath every three seconds on the third
second. That's 20 breaths per minute. So we do that and every minute
we check the pulse.
UNCONSCIOUS OBSTRUCTED AIRWAY FOR THE CHILD:
Lets say you have a child who is unresponsive and you looked,
listen and feel. Then you give a breath and the breath comes back to you.
What you do then is reposition the airway and try to give another breath.
If that breath comes back then you must straddle the child and put one
hand above the umbilicus and below the sternum. Then put your other hand
on top of that hand and start to do abdominal thrust. The way we do that
is we thrust inward and upward. (Artificial cough). After you do that five
times then you open the airway and do a blind finger sweep. You use your
pinkie for that. Then try to deliver a breath. If the breath goes through
give another one then check the pulse. If the breath doesn't go through
then you must follow the steps again.
CONSCIOUS OBSTRUCTED AIRWAY FOR THE CHILD:
This is for a child who is conscious. If a child can speak, laugh,
sing or make any noises then they are not choking. For this child we encourage
them to cough. If a child can’t speak or make any noise then we have to
do the Heimalick Maneuver. The adult gets behind the child on their knees.
Make a fist with the thumb underneath the four fingers. Take the bump of
the thumb and put it above the umbilicus and below the sternum. Put your
other hand on top of the fist and inward and upward until the child lets
the object out or goes unconscious. If the child goes unconscious then
you must start the steps for unconscious obstructed airway for the child.
If they let the object out they should go to the hospital for monitoring.
INFANT CPR:
The first thing is to make the scene safe. Then check unresponsiveness.
The way we do this is flick the soles of the feet and hands. Never tap
a baby on their shoulders. After establishing unresponsiveness then we
have to say, “HELP” Then we have to open up the airway. We do the head
tilt chin lift, but unlike the adult and child we do not HYPEREXTEND the
airway. The reason is because we can close off the airway like that.
So we open it just a little. The we LOOK LISTEN and FEEL We are looking
and listening and feeling for the same thing as in the adult and child.
After we do that we give two initial breaths. With the infant since they
have smaller lungs we only fill up our cheeks with air and blow into their
mouths and nose. The way we breath for the infant is put your mouth over
their mouths and nose. Then we check the Brachial pulse in the upper arm,
the inner part. Do that for TEN seconds. If no pulse then say, “NO PULSE
CALL 911!” After that we start compression's. Its one finger breath underneath
the nipple line. You take two fingers and compress the chest five times.
We say it 12345..breath. (Compress the chest ½ to 1inch for the
infant) Then you deliver one breath. Do that for a minute and check the
brachial pulse.
RESCUE BREATHING FOR THE INFANT:
If the infant has a pulse but is not breathing then you start rescue
breathing. Give one breath every three seconds on the third second. This
gives you 20 breaths per minute. Do it for a minute and check to see if
you have a pulse.
UNCONSCIOUS OBSTRUCTED AIRWAY FOR THE INFANT:
Lets say you try to give a breath to a infant and the breath does not
go in you have to reposition the airway and try another breath. If that
breath don’t go in then put the infant on your forearm and with the head
slightly down give five back blows. The way we do that is you take
the heel of your hand and hit the baby in between the shoulder blades
five times. Then turn the baby, so the back is on your forearm and
give five abdominal thrust inward and upward. You do this the same way
you do the compression's and the same spot. Then you check the infants
mouth for any visible objects. If there is something there then you take
it out, if not try two breaths. NEVER DO A BLIND FINGER SWEEP WITH A INFANT!!!
CONSCIOUS OBSTRUCTED AIRWAY FOR THE INFANT:
A infant who is crying or making noises is breathing. Just monitor
for any signs of choking which is not crying or making sounds. If a infant
is not crying or making sounds then the heimalich maneuver is necessary.
We do it the same way we did it with the unconscious obstructed airway
except we do not start off with two breaths . We do five back blows and
then five chest thrust and then check the airway for any objects. Remember
No BLIND FINGER SWEEPS!!! If something is there then we take it out and
if nothing is there, we continue with five back blows.
MISCELLANEOUS
When leaving a patient who is unconscious leave them on their side
so no aspirations (swallow vomit) occur. If you suspect a head injury
or neck injury don’t open their airway with the head tilt chin lift unless
you are not trained to do the modified jaw thrust.