Login

CPR on Children: A Step by Step Guide

CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, is a vital first-aid technique. It can be lifesaving in emergencies, especially where the patient is having breathing difficulties, including a heart attack or near drowning down the water. Anyone, no matter what the age is, may need CPR in such emergencies. Though the basics of CPR is the same for all ages, CPR on children requires some special attention as children are fragile and weaker than adults.

So, performing CPR on a child could be challenging for you if you don’t know about the child CPR steps properly. In this article, I’ll walk you through the step by step guide of how to perform CPR on a child. Now let’s dive right in without further ado.

Importance of first aid for children

Children are usually playful and restless. They love to move around here and there always, and everything they find interesting becomes a game to them. That’s why they are more prone to accidents or injuries than adults. In the worst cases, they fall in such accidents that their breaths get blocked, or the heart stops working. 

In such cases, they need to be hospitalized immediately. But doctors and medical professionals say that the time between an accident and hospitalization is very crucial to save a patient’s life. Most of the time, the patient’s condition degrades in this gap, and the survival possibility decreases a lot. But a proper first aid can be the game-changer in such a case. Though first-aid can’t assure a person’s life, it can halt the degradation of the patient’s condition until emergency help, or the ambulance arrives, and thus it increases the survival possibility. 

Why is CPR for children so important?

Now you might be wondering about why CPR is so important for children. Well, in simple words, CPR is essential as a first-aid technique to save a life. Now let’s be technical in words. When the heart stops working, the blood begins running out of oxygen and the brain, as well as other organs, doesn’t receive enough supply of oxygen-rich blood. 

As a result, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood increases and the tissues get collapsed, and the organs get damaged eventually. This can cause the death of the patient within a few minutes if he/she doesn’t get immediate treatment, or at least an immediate first aid response, which is none other than a CPR. However, CPR can’t restart the heart alone. But it delays the organ damage and extends the time for the arrival of the medical team or the ambulance. 

Not only by cardiac arrest, but the heart can also stop working for some other reasons. Apart from this situation, CPR on children can be lifesaving in such an emergency where the heart works, but the kid is facing extreme difficulties with breathing. When a child faces breathing difficulties, he can’t inhale enough air. So, the blood lacks enough oxygen and the condition gets worse as time passes unless the child receives treatment. And, just like other situations, CPR extends the time gap for the treatment. Thus, CPR on children can save their lives in emergencies. 

When to do CPR on children

You learned about the importance of CPR. Now you might be thinking when to do CPR on a child. You might have thought CPR is only for cardiac arrests or breathing difficulties. However, there are some other cases where you need to perform CPR on kids. These includes:

Things to do before CPR

As CPR is required in critical conditions, it needs some special attention before and during performing CPR. Now let’s talk about what things you should consider before beginning CPR on children. Here is the list of to-dos: 

Call for help

Remember that CPR is only for supporting the child by extending the time for the arrival of the medical team or an ambulance. So when an emergency occurs, your first step should be calling for help. You call 999, which is the official emergency number of the United Kingdom and ask for medical support. After that, prepare for doing CPR on the child. 

Verify scene safety

Before beginning CPR, you should check the surrounding thoroughly and ensure the place is safe for the children. If not, try to move the children somewhere else, or make the place safe for him, removing anything that could be obstructive to perform CPR on a child. 

Check the response of the child

After ensuring the place is safe and free of any obstacle, check the response of the child. Here, response means the consciousness of the child, etc. If the child is unconscious, tap on him or shake his shoulder and shout, “Hey! are you oK?”

Check for breathing and pulse

In this step, you’ll understand if the child needs CPR or not. Observe his breathing for five to ten seconds to understand any abnormality in this breathing. Place your ear close to the mouth and nose of the child, and feel his breath on your cheek. Don’t take more than ten seconds as every second is important here and you can’t afford to waste time. 

After that, check for the chest movement to observe the pulse. You can check the carotid pulse by placing two fingers on either side of the front of the neck just below the angle of the jaw. If you find any abnormality in the pulse or breathing, get ready to start the CPR. 

7 steps to perform CPR on children

When you’re ready to perform CPR on a child, make sure you’re following the right way to do that. Here are the seven steps to perform CPR on kids: 

1. Place the child

Carefully lay down the child on his back on a solid and smooth surface. Remember not to tilt the head too much if there is any head or neck injury. After placing the child, sit beside him and get ready to start the CPR. 

2. Place your hand

Giving CPR on a boy

After placing the child in the right position, place your hand on his chest keeping your arms straight. Place the heel of your one hand on the centre of the chest at the nipple line. Don’t place your hand on the ribs, rather than the breastbone. You can use both hands if it requires pressing the chest. In that case, place the second hand on the first one and interlock the fingers. 

For a baby, place two fingers on the breastbone rather than the heel of your hand. 

3. Begin chest compressions

Now the main step of CPR begins with chest compression. Lean forward and place your shoulders right above the chest of the child. Then press the chest down about 2 inches. Make sure you’re pressing on the breastbone. Avoid pressing on ribs as children’s ribs are fragile and prone to fracture if they’re pressed hard. For a baby, you should press down about a half to one inch. Continue to give 30 chest compressions in a cycle at the rate of 100 compressions per minute. 

In the meantime, observe if the child has started to breathe or not. If not, then you should move on rescue breathing. 

4. Open the airway

Before giving rescue breaths, you should open the airway up. To do this, lift the child’s chin and slightly tilt the head back and open the mouth. Remember not to tilt that much if you suspect a head or neck injury. 

5. Perform rescue breathing

Giving rescue breath

After opening the airway up, the child is ready to receive rescue breaths. Cover the mouth of his with your and pinch the nostrils closed with your fingers. Then give breath and let the chest rise. For a baby, cover both the mouth and nose with your mouth and do the same. Give two rescue breaths at a time after each 30 compressions cycle. 

6. Repeat compression and rescue breathing

It is expected that the child will start breathing after a cycle of compressions and rescue breathing. But if he is still not breathing, then repeat the cycle. That means to give 30 compressions and two rescue breaths in a cycle until the child starts breathing or the medical team arrives. 

7. Use an AED

If possible, use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to make the child breathing quickly. It would be best if you used a paediatric AED for children. Follow the step by step instructions given with the AED to give shocks to the child. By this time, the emergency medical team would arrive and take over the responsibility. 

Here’s a video to help you understand how to perform CPR on children. 

Wrap up

Now it’s time to conclude here. Hope that you got everything right and understood how to do CPR on children. Hope you would find it helpful in real life if such a situation arises and can be helpful to save a child’s life. However, if you want to explore more about first aid for children along with CPR and other techniques, you can consider taking the Paediatric First Aid Training from Training Express. So, click on the button below and explore more. 

Paediatric First Aid Training
Treating a casualty with First Aid is a hard but rewarding experience. Being able to help a child in distress or pain is an especially admirable talent and one that all parents.
Paediatric First Aid Training
Treating a casualty with First Aid is a hard but rewarding experience. Being able to help a child in distress or pain is an especially admirable talent and one that all parents.
October 25, 2023
0
Your Cart

Upgrade to get UNLIMITED ACCESS to ALL COURSES for only £49.00 per year

ADD OFFER TO CART

No more than 50 active courses at any one time. Membership renews after 12 months. Cancel anytime from your account. Certain courses are not included. Can't be used in conjunction with any other offer.