• Infant CPR is similar to Child CPR in only that the ratio for compression’s to ventilation’s is the same; 30-2.
Calling 911 is the same. We yell for help, but stay with the infant for the first two minutes of care. If the baby is small enough, and you do not suspect trauma, you could bring the baby with you, while caring for the infant.
• Compression’s- Look for responsiveness, breathing, or movement. you use only two fingers to do chest compression’s for an infant. Center line of the chest, about a finger’s width below the nipple line. The compression’s are only ½ inch to 1 inch deep (1/3 the depth of the chest).
• Airway- You still do a head tilt-chin lift. However the infant’s airway is much smaller and if we tilt the head too far back, it is possible to obstruct the airway. Bring the chin up until the nose is pointed straight up, not too far back. The infant’s head is much larger in proportion, so this makes it quite easy to open the airway too far.
• Breathing- When you breathe for an infant, there is no need to pinch the nose. Place your mouth over both the nose and mouth of the infant. The volume of air will be much less than that of an adult, or child. Breathe just enough to see the chest rise.
Choking
• Infant conscious choking- Babies are not going to hold their throat and look for help if they are choking. They will be turning blue, watering eyes, no screaming, or crying. A quiet baby is a baby in trouble. DO NOT SHAKE BABY! Pick the infant up, supporting the head and neck from the face. Turn the baby upside down, and give 5 forceful back blows between the shoulder blades. If the object becomes dislodged, the infant will, cry and spit the object out. If nothing happens, support the back of the infant’s head, turn the baby face up, still holding the head at a downward angle and provide 5 chest thrusts. This is done in the same spot you do CPR compression’s. Once again, if this is successful the infant will cry.
Infant is found or becomes unconscious and choking- if the back blows and chest thrusts are unsuccessful, the infant will go unconscious. If this happens, tell someone to call 911. Place the infant on a hard surface. Start CPR with compression’s first. Since we know the infant is choking, look in the mouth for the object before you breath. If you see the object, try to get it out with your pinky finger. You may have to pick the infant up, support the head and turn the head to the side to help it out. DO NOT DO A BLIND FINGER SWEEP. If the object is not there, open the airway, attempt to ventilate. If it does not go in, the infant is still choking. Provide 30 compression’s, then look for the object again. Repeat till the object comes out, the breaths go in, or medical help arrives. DO NOT GIVE UP!
(619) 281-3304
mike@a-b-cpr.com
Recent Comments