Babies and small children can choke on food, coins or other small objects within their grasps, eat or drink detergents and other harmful substances they were able to reach, slip and slide on the pool or bath tub, get their necks entangled with appliance wires or curtain drawstrings, or their heads caught in plastic bags. In fact, accidents can and occasionally do happen to babies and small children no matter the extent of precaution taken. If only for this reason, parents and those who as part of their job take care of babies and small children would do well to get some pediatrics CPR training so that they are equipped to deal with such emergencies.
When an adult needs CPR, more often than not it is because of a heart attack or cardiac seizure resulting from an arrhythmia, a condition characterized by very rapid, very erratic heart beats. Here, using CPR with an AED is generally the most advisable option. The electric shock administered by the AED can momentarily halt the heart, giving it enough pause to allow it to re-establish normal rhythm. On the other hand, when a toddler or a small child is in need of CPR, the most common reason is because of a blocked airway passage. The difficulty in breathing results to oxygen deprivation of the body which in turn triggers a cardiac arrest. In this instance, the highest priority when giving CPR is first making sure that the airway passage of the toddler or child is cleared free from any blockage.
With that, after having called 911 for emergency medical assistance, here are two things you may want to remember when giving CPR to a baby or a small child:
1. If you believe that something is stuck in the airway, and the toddler or child is unconscious, open his or her mouth and look for the object. If you can see it, remove with your fingers. If he or she is conscious, and the object cannot be removed with the fingers, position the baby or child face down and deliver five firm blows between the shoulder blades to dislodge the stuck object. If the object remains stuck, position the baby or child on his or her back with the head lower than the rest of the body, then use the pad of your fingers to push the chest one and a half inches inward five times. Push five times. Following this, repeat the blows between the shoulder blades to dislodge the object. Continue alternating the five chest compression-five back blow cycle until the object is spitted out or until the baby or child can breathe again. If the baby or child suffered a near-drowning submersion, you do not need to remove the water from the airway passage before proceeding with CPR. If the baby or child cannot breathe because of swollen air passage resulting from allergic reaction, you should also immediately proceed with CPR until medical help arrives.
2. If the baby or child is not breathing, give two rescue breaths, with each breath lasting one second. Put your mouth over the child’s or baby’s and gently exhale until you see the chest rise. Pause to allow the air to flow back out, then repeat the process. Follow the two rescue breaths with 30 chest compressions. Continue the two rescue breath-30 chest compression cycle until the professional rescuers can take over. Always have in mind that your main objective in administering CPR to the baby or child is to keep the brain from dying or becoming permanently damaged from deprivation of oxygenated blood supply.
