CPR for infants and children also involves compressions and rescue breaths.
Compression for children and infants
Effective compression for both children and infants is applied at the centre of the chest and to approximately one-third of the depth of the chest. It is also performed at 100–120 compressions per minute.
You will usually use one or two hands to compress children and two fingers to compress infants.
Rescue breaths for children and infants
The guidelines for performing rescue breaths on children are the same as those for adults, except for the volume of air to be blown into the victim. Great care must be taken in judging the volume of air to be blown into the lungs of a small person, as over-inflation increases the risk of regurgitation. The airway operator should blow only until the victim’s chest is seen to rise, and then stop.
When performing rescue breaths on an infant:
- place your mouth over the infant’s nose and mouth
- puff in just enough air through your slightly open mouth to cause the chest to rise
- use an infant resuscitation mask where available.
Note:
- If an infant resuscitation mask is not available, an adult mask may be used in an upside-down position.
- The volume of air required is very small and practice should be carried out on infant manikins.