Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a life-saving procedure that
is done when a child’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped which may happen
after drowning, suffocation, choking, or an injury. The procedure involves
chest compressions that keeps the child’s blood circulating and rescue
breathing that provides oxygen to a child’s lungs. CPR must be continued until
the child’s heartbeat and breathing return, or the arrival of trained medical
help as permanent brain damage or death can occur within minutes if a child’s
blood flow stops.
The life-saving procedure is best administered by someone
trained in an accredited CPR course from a certified training site such as the
AHA certified CPR Memphis in Tennessee. Everyone from parents to those who take
care of children should learn infant and child CPR if they have not already.
Time is crucial when dealing with an unconscious child who’s not breathing as
permanent brain damage begins only after four minutes without oxygen resulting
in death as soon as 4-6 minutes are over. Training in how to operate the AED
device for the process of defibrillation is imparted in the CPR classes itself.
Automated External Defibrillators can be found in many public places and
available for home use as well. These devices have pads or paddles to place on
the chest during a potentially fatal emergency which use computers to
automatically check the heart rhythm and give a sudden shock, only if that
shock is needed to get the ticker back into the right rhythm. It is important
to follow the instructions exactly when using the device.
At CPR Memphis, courses for both healthcare and
non-healthcare providers. Learn more about a PALS class Memphis:
Pediatric
Advanced Life Support Classes- The course has been designed for
nurses, physicians and all other healthcare providers who must develop and
enhance their pediatric assessment skills. Learn and practice team preparation
for a pediatric crisis. You’ll learn how to identify the onset of shock, as
well as respiratory and cardiovascular emergencies in children and infants. The
class concludes with actual PALS cases and a final written examination.
Reasons you may need to perform CPR on a child include
choking, drowning, excessive bleeding, lung disease, poisoning, suffocation,
head trauma or other serious injury, electrical shock. The procedure should be
done if the child has symptoms like no breathing, no pulse and unconsciousness.
First Aid:
1. Shake or
tap the child gently to check for his/her alertness. Check if the child moves
or makes a noise.
2. Shout for
help if there’s no response. Ask someone close by to call 911 and get an AED if
available. Stay with the child and don’t leave until you’ve done CPR for about
2 minutes.
3. After
placing the child on its back, perform chest compressions. Give 30 compressions
and press down the child’s chest so that it compresses about one-third to
one-half the depth of the chest.
4. Open the
airway and look, listen and feel for breathing. Place your ear close to the
child’s mouth and nose and feel for breath on your cheek.
5. If the
child isn’t breathing, give 2 rescue breaths which should take about a second
(each one) and make the chest rise.
6. After 2
minutes of CPR, leave the child if you are alone and call 911 if he or she
still does not have normal breathing, coughing, or any movement.
7. Repeat
chest compressions and rescue breaths until the child recovers or help arrives.
Place the child in the recovery position if he or she starts breathing again
and keep checking for breathing until help arrives.
Do not begin chest compressions if the child has sign of
normal breathing, coughing, or movement.
Get
trained in the life-saving procedure and contribute towards the safety of
cardiac arrest victims. For more information or to sign up for a course at CPR
Memphis, call on 901-438-4200.
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