Parents: how to give a baby CPR
CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is an essential skill for parents. CPR is given to save lives by restoring regular breathing and blood flow. When a person stops breathing, and CPR is not performed immediately, they can die within minutes. CPR can only be performed by the people closest to the victim when the incident occurs.
Cases of drowning, choking, suffocation, and other injuries can result in breathing difficulties. With insufficient oxygen supply, the child is at risk of suffering permanent brain damage and death. The CPR process entails checking compressions and rescue breathing. Chest compressions maintain blood circulation while rescue breathing keeps blood flowing into the lungs.
CPR is best performed by CPR certified persons. CPR certification programs are available online for interested persons. Caregivers for children and infants should have CPR certification. Online CPR certification is readily available, and the registration process is simple. There are no limitations of age and education for persons interested in taking up the course. There is no excuse not to have CPR certification. Most importantly, with these skills, you could save the life of a loved one.
Cpr is usually performed on unconscious persons, not breathing and without a pulse. Incidents that can result in breathing difficulties requiring CPR in children include:
- Suffocation
- Poisoning
- Lung disease
- Head trauma and other serious injuries
- Excessive bleeding
- Electrical shock
- Drowning and choking
CPR procedure for children
The first step in performing CPR is checking if the victim is alert. You do this by shaking the child gently or tapping gently on the shoulder. Ask the child out loudly, “Are you okay?” To see if they can talk or produce a sound. To elicit a response in infants, flick the bottom of their feet.
If the child is not responsive, shout out for help. It would help if you didn’t leave the child or infant alone without performing CPR for at least 2 minutes. The CPR process should start immediately as every minute counts. Quick CPR’s performance is the only way you can help the child survive, and a few minutes’ delays can worsen the situation. If anyone else is around, you should ask them to call for emergency medical services and bring the AED machine if available.
Gently lay the child on their back. If you suspect the child of having spinal or neck injury, two people can help move the child to avoid twisting the spine and head.
While lying on their back, gently tilt the child’s head backward and lift the chin. Listen for any signs of breathing or occasional gasps of air for not more than 10 seconds.
If the child does not show any signs of breathing, start by delivering two rescue breaths. With the head in a tilted position, gently pinch on the child’s nose and cover the mouth with your own. In this position, breathe into the child’s mouth twice.
For infants, cover both the mouth and nose with your mouth and blow in the air until the chest rises.
If the child or infant is not responsive to rescue breaths, begin CPR.
Kneel beside the child or infant. Place the heel of your hand on the chest right between the nipples. Place the other hand on top of the first and interlock the fingers then push hard. Press hard and fast on the chest (2-inch deep). Perform 30 compressions then give two rescue breaths in that sequence.
When giving CPR to infants, use two fingers and press on 1.5 inches giving 30 compressions and two rescue breaths.
Keep on giving 30 chest compressions and two rescue breaths until you see obvious signs of life such as breathing, specialized help arrives, the AED is available and ready for use, or you are too exhausted to keep going.
The use of the AED on children and infants
The AED is a device used to restore the heart’s rhythm in cases of ventricular fibrillation. The device has software that detects the heart’s rhythm and indicates if an electrical shock could restore a regular heartbeat. If the heart is in a state of ventricular fibrillation, the device delivers a shock that restores it to its normal state. During ventricular fibrillation, the heart is in chaos and unable to pump blood. It often results from a heart attack, affecting the ventricles or lower part of the heart. The condition leads to low blood pressure and insufficient oxygen supply to body organs. When these occur, the victim falls unconscious. If CPR is not performed, the victim could die.
The AED is safe for use in both children and infants. It should be used as soon as possible to increase the chances of survival. With the AED, pediatric pads should be applied to children less than eight years old. Use adult pads only when the pediatric ones are not available. Some pads are universal with buttons to adjust the shock to pediatric (back and forth). For children under one year, always use a manual defibrillator if available.
Procedure for using AED
Prepare the AED and turn it on. Some AED devices have audio and visual prompts that guide users on their steps of operation.
Open or expose the child’s or infant’s chest. Check and remove any medication patches on the child with gloves then wipe the chest dry.
Peel off the backing on the pads. If necessary, connect the pads and plug in the connector.
Before you start administering the AED, ensure everyone stays off the child, and no one is touching him or her by stating out loudly, “stay clear.” The rescuer should also stay clear of the victim.
For older children, apply one pad on the upper right chest. The second pad goes to the lower left chest side. For infants, apply one pad on the upper left chest and the other on the back.
Stay clear of the victim and let the device analyze the heart rhythm. It will give prompts which you should follow. If it indicates shock is necessary, press the shock button.
Once the shock is delivered, resume CPR for another two minutes and deliver another shock.
If the device doesn’t indicate the need for a shock, continue with CPR for two minutes or give five CPR cycles followed by the AED prompts. Continue with the sequence until you notice obvious signs of life in the victim.
When the victim shows signs of life or starts breathing, discontinue the CPR. Keep the victim under close watch and take note of any changes in the condition.
Delivery of CPR during COVID
The process of giving CPR is somewhat risky as it could lead to exposure and transmission of illnesses. With the rising cases of Corona infections, it is good to take precautionary measures to protect yourself and others at home. Certain precautions apply, more so during the COVID 19 pandemic. You or the child you are attending could be infected with the virus.
The following precautionary measure needs to be effected when giving CPR.
- The rescuer should make use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves.
- The victim’s mouth should also be covered with a mask or a piece of cloth to reduce transmission risk.
- Rescue breathing is a highly risky procedure and shouldn’t apply. The victim should only be given chest compressions (hands-only CPR). Although the chest compressions are not as effective as when accompanied by rescue breathing, it is proven to give good results.
- When checking for life signs, the rescuer should look for visible signs (such as the victim’s chest rising and falling) rather than listen or feel.
- If the cardiac arrest in the child or infant results from breathing difficulties caused by drug overdose, drowning, choking the whole procedure involving rescue breathing and CPR is necessary. However, hands-only CPR is much better than not doing it at all. If the rescuer is uncomfortable giving mouth to mouth, they should continuously perform CPR until specialized help takes over the situation.
- The AED should be used if available irrespective of whether the victim is COVID positive or not. There is a minimum risk of infection when using the AED if the PPE is correctly used, as we saw above.
- After using the AED, clean it properly and disinfect.
Summary
Knowledge of the performance of CPR is critical. Cardiac arrest can occur anywhere, and it could occur at home. The chances of survival of the victim depend on the availability of a knowledgeable person to perform CPR. At the discovery stage, children and infants expose themselves to risky situations. Parents should ensure that the people they entrust their children with are knowledgeable about CPR. Elder children should also be enrolled for CPR certification programs and other first aid courses to equip them with skills to handle emergencies. The rules surrounding the performance of CPR are continually changing with research and findings. If your certification is outdated, you will find it worthwhile to refresh your skills through CPR recertification programs, which are also available online.