Infant CPR: Know The Difference And Act Upon It

What’s infant CPR and how does it compare to other forms of this life-saving process? We often put infants and small children in similar categories but in the case of CPR, we simply can’t do that. Infants are much more fragile than more developed children, so we have to treat them as such when we’re trying to resuscitate them. Here’s what you need to know and do as you spring into action to save an infant’s life.

Response

Unlike a grown child, we have to be extremely careful in how we check to see if the infant is conscious. We can’t shake them so instead, give their feet a gentle tap or stroke them by the arm or head to see if there is any response. 

Pulse Check

While you would check the carotid artery on a grown child’s neck, you have to go to a different area of the body on an infant – the inside of the upper arm, where you will find the brachial artery.

Rescue Breathing

Slightly tilt the infant’s head upward but you need to be mindful of how powerful your rescue breaths are toward an infant’s delicate airways – even more so than toddlers and older children. Instead of a full blow into the mouth, blow from your cheeks rather than a deep inhale and exhale from your lungs.

Chest Compressions

Obviously, in an infant, you’re dealing with a much smaller chest area and one that can’t take regular chest compressions using one or two hands. So what do you do? Take two fingers, place them in the center of the infant’s chest and compress up to one and a half inches deep. You can and should have the exact same rhythm as you would in performing CPR on a child or adult – the only real adjustment you’re making is in how you use your fingers instead of your hands and the depth of chest compression.

CPR is the entire family’s job – not just for the adults in the room. So as you learn how to perform CPR on your baby, teach any brothers and sisters how to perform infant CPR as well in case they are the only ones near the infant, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Because in a few minutes, anything can happen.

To learn how SOS Technologies can teach your company’s new parents on how to perform infant CPR as part of our CPR/AED classes, give us a call at 888.705.6100 and let’s book a date on the calendar to come on-site. It’s A Matter Of Life And Life.