CPR certification is an essential emergency procedure for infants. Due to their unique anatomical features, performing CPR on newborns requires specific steps that differ from that performed on adults or older children. Knowing the appropriate steps for performing CPR on newborns will enable you to be prepared in case an emergency occurs. This article will guide you through each of them ensuring you can be ready in an instant!
Why Baby CPR Is Necessary
In the event that an infant stops responding, is not breathing normally, or is breathing insufficiently, CPR may become necessary. This could be caused by various causes including:
Choking: Babies may explore their environment by placing objects into their mouths, increasing the risk of choking.
Suffocation – Babies may suffocate when sleeping in an unsafe environment, such as when bedclothes, toys, or pillows are too large.
Infants and toddlers face an immediate risk from even small pools of water, making even small quantities unsafe to play in.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) refers to the sudden and unexpected deaths of otherwise healthy infants during sleep – most frequently nap time – often without prior warning, medical history of illness or infection, and without medical history of illness being revealed by genetic testing or history review.
Parents, caregivers, and others responsible for an infant should acquire knowledge on how to administer CPR correctly.
How to Perform CPR on a Baby
1. Quickly Assess the Situation:
Assessing the situation when encountering an infant who does not respond is your first priority when encountering one who does not. First, ensure that it is safe to approach them; tap gently on their foot or shoulder while calling out their name; if no response comes back then assume they require immediate help.
2. Contact emergency assistance immediately:
If you are alone with a child or infant, perform CPR for two minutes prior to calling 911. For babies under one year of age, use speaker mode on your phone for CPR while conversing with emergency operators. That’s all activity of CPR you can know with CPR certification.
3. Position Your Baby Correctly:
Baby should be placed on its back on a flat and firm surface such as the floor or table to provide you with stability to apply chest compressions effectively. Remove any clothing that could obstruct chest compressions effectively; check that their head, neck, and body form one straight line before beginning chest compressions.
4. Open Baby’s Airway:
Take care not to tilt back too far as that could potentially block their airway and stretch their neck too much. Rather, focus on maintaining their airway while not overstretching their neck!
5. Check for normal breathing:
Make sure your baby is breathing normally with their airway wide open by listening out for breathing noises and watching for chest movement. CPR should be performed if they fail to breathe at all or only gasp for breath.
6. Give Rescue Breaths:
If your baby does not breathe:
Cover your baby’s nose and mouth with your lips to create a tight seal, keeping in any moisture or germs that might enter their system.
Two gentle breaths each lasting approximately one second will help your baby’s chest rise when breathing out. If it doesn’t rise as you breathe out, consider repositioning your face before trying again.
Due to their small and delicate lungs, it is essential not to overinflate them with air. Instead, take gentle breaths in order to provide enough oxygen.
7. Perform Chest Compressions
After administering emergency breathing, begin chest compressions immediately.
Two fingers should be gently placed across the infant’s chest just below his or her nasip line.
Compress your chest gently but firmly.
Do 30 compressions at an average rate of 100-120 per minute and allow your chest to fully rise between compressions.
8. Continue the CPR certification cycle:
Once the 30 chest compressions have been completed, add two rescue breaths and continue alternating 30 chest compressions with two rescue breaths until help arrives or your baby shows signs of life, such as breathing or moving.
Important Considerations when Conducting CPR on Babies
Don’t Shake Your Baby: Shaking an unresponsive infant could result in brain damage.
Use gentle force: Because babies’ bones are still developing, use only enough force necessary when compressing a baby to avoid harming it.
Stay calm: While panic may be understandable in an emergency situation, remaining level-headed and focused throughout is key for staying out of trouble. Panic can lead to dangerous mistakes that may have lasting repercussions.
When to Stop CPR Whilst CPR should continue, until:
Once the baby can breathe independently.
Professional emergency responders arrive and quickly take control.
Physical exhaustion prevents you from carrying on.
Avoiding CPR
While learning CPR can be lifesaving, it’s also wise to take preventive steps that could reduce the chance of having to perform CPR in an emergency situation. Here are a few preventive measures that may lower this likelihood.
Safe Sleep Practices: Always place your infant to sleep on its back and remove toys, pillows, and loose bedding from its crib in order to reduce the chance of suffocation.
Supervised Feeding – Always supervise your baby while they eat to prevent small, hard items that could potentially choke them from being given.
Water Safety: Never allow children to play in or around water for more than a few seconds at any one time, including buckets of water, bathtubs, and pools.
Childproofing: Make sure the environment around your baby is free from objects that could be swallowed, and any dangerous areas like stairs are blocked off so as to protect her.
Conclusion of Article
Anyone responsible for taking care of an infant should learn CPR. Follow this guide with care; doing it correctly could make all the difference during an emergency situation.
As part of taking steps to avoid emergencies by employing safe practices, taking steps to minimize CPR is also beneficial. Consider enrolling in an infant CPR certification course to hone your knowledge and be ready for emergency situations if they arise. It will reinforce and expand upon what knowledge has already been acquired and will prepare you to intervene when needed.