Breathing

• Keeping the airway open, check for breathing
• Look to see if chest rises, listen for breaths, feel for breaths on your cheek
• If the child is not breathing, seal the mouth with your mouth
• Pinch the nose
• Give 2 breaths, just enough to make the chest rise
• Watch for chest to rise with breaths
• If chest rises – go to C (circulation)
• If chest does not rise – reposition the head and try 2 more breaths
• Look in the mouth and remove anything that is blocking the airway

Circulation

• Open chest clothing
• Put the heel of one hand between the nipples on the breastbone
• Push hard and fast
• Push straight down, 30 pushes at a rate of 100 per minute, let chest come up after each push
• Give 2 breaths after each 30 pushes
• Do 5 sets of 30 pushes and 2 breaths.  This should take approximately 2 minutes
• If not already done, call 911
• Do CPR until child is responding (starting to move) or until professional help takes over

If breathing but not responding:

• Stop CPR
• Watch the breathing until professional help arrives
• If no injuries, roll the child onto one side

Even if breathing and responding, the child should be taken to the nearest Emergency Room by ambulance.

Knowing how and when to administer CPR to your child may save his life.  When performed correctly, CPR restores a child’s breathing and circulation until professional help arrives.

CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation – a combination of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions.  Although reading about CPR will give a basic understanding, every parent should take a CPR course which is available in most towns and cities.

CPR should only be performed if a child is not breathing and should be administered as quickly as possible once it is determined to be necessary. 

The basic parts of CPR are easy to remember as A, B, C

• Airway
• Breathing
• Circulation.

Airway

• Turn the child flat, face-up on a hard surface
• Open airway with a head-tilt/chin-lift

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