Heart Healthy Series ~ CPR for Infants (Up to One Year Old)

I love my family (and all of you) with all of my heart, that is why I am partnering with One Beat CPR, Florida’s premier American Heart Association (AHA) and American Safety Health Institute (ASHI) CPR Training Center based in South Florida for a four week heart healthy series.  

One Beat CPR was founded in 1999 and continues to be a family owned company.  The company offers approachable, enjoyable and affordable lifesaving education classes that are perfect for families, schools and businesses; making CPR training accessible, fun and informative. 

When my boys were babies, I would often panic that they may choke on a toy, on something they found on the floor, or anything small that may enter their mouths.  I knew I could look on the internet for how to conduct the proper CPR techniques for infants, but in the heat of the moment, who has time?  So being prepared AHEAD OF TIME is something we all should do.

Here's a quick tip: The ABCs of CPR are Airway, Breathing, and Circulation. This acronym is used to help you remember the steps to take when performing CPR.

Airway
With infants, be careful not to tilt the head back too far. An infant’s neck is so pliable that forceful backward tilting might block breathing passages instead of opening them.

Breathing
Do not pinch the nose of an infant who is not breathing. Cover both the mouth and the nose with your mouth and breathe slowly (one to one and a half seconds per breath), using enough volume and pressure to make the chest rise.
With a small child, pinch the nose closed, cover the mouth with your mouth and breathe at the same rate as for an infant. Rescue breathing should be done in conjunction with chest compressions. (See next section.)

Chest Compressions on Infants 

• If alone with an unresponsive infant, give five cycles of CPR (compressions and ventilations) for about two minutes before calling 911 or your local emergency number.
• Use only the tips of the middle and ring fingers of one hand to compress the chest at the sternum (breastbone), just below the nipple line, as described in the table below. The other hand may be slipped under the back to provide a firm support. (However, if you can encircle your hands around the chest of the infant, using the thumbs to compress the chest, this is better than using the two-finger method.)
• Depress the sternum between a third to a half the depth of the chest at a rate of at least 100 times a minute.
• Two breaths should be given during a pause after every 30 chest compressions (a 30:2 compression-to-ventilation ratio or two breaths about every two minutes) on all infants (excluding newborns).
• Continue CPR until emergency medical help arrives.

Small Children (ages one to eight)

• Give five cycles of CPR (compressions and ventilations) for about two minutes before calling 911.
• Use the heel of one or two hands, as needed, and compress on the breastbone at about the nipple line.
• Depress the sternum about a third to a half the depth of the chest, depending on the size of the child. The rate should be 100 times per minute.
• Give two breaths for every 30 chest compressions (30:2 ratio) or two breaths about every two minutes.
• Continue CPR until emergency medical help arrives.

Video: One Beat CPR Founder, Lon Rosen, demonstrates how to react in an emergency situation and administer CPR.  

For more information about One Beat CPR, log onto www.onebeatcpr.com.  Like them on Facebook: Facebook.com/OneBeatCPR and follow them on Twitter: @OneBeatCPR.

Alexis