Prepare by taking a course
CPR is an emergency first-aid technique for treating a person who is not breathing and has no heartbeat.
This is a skill that is most often used by friends and family members on each other. That’s why it’s a good idea to encourage each member of your household to learn the techniques.
When it’s needed, the person who has the most experience and training in CPR should be the one to perform the procedure at the scene of an emergency.
Think abc — airway, breathing and circulation
In basic life support, remember ABC:
Airway – Establish an open airway
Breathing – Reestablish breathing
Circulation – Begin external compressions if the heart has stopped Step one — Check for consciousness/Call for help:
Find out if the person is conscious. Shout, “Are you OK?”
Move the person only if necessary. Gently roll them over onto their back, keeping the head, neck and shoulders together as a unit. If you suspect a spinal injury, be careful not to move the person’s neck.
If the person doesn’t respond, call 911 or your local emergency services number, then begin CPR, if necessary.
For children and infants, do one minute of CPR, if indicated, before calling 911 or your local emergency services number.
Step two — Check for breathing/Open airway
If no air is passing through the person’s lips (put your cheek next to their mouth to check), and the person’s chest and abdomen are not moving, they are not breathing and you will need to open the airway.
If there is vomit or liquid in the mouth, clean it out with your fingers (cover fingers with a clean cloth if you have one).
Push down and back on the forehead and lift up the chin by placing your fingers under the jaw bone.
With an infant, be careful not to extend the head back too far since that can shut off the airway.
Check the mouth, chest and abdomen again for movement. Sometimes opening the airway is enough to get the person to start breathing again.
If the person does not begin breathing immediately, begin rescue breathing (step three).
Step three — Begin rescue breathing
Pinch the person’s nostrils shut with the same hand that you have on his or her forehead.
Place your mouth over the person’s mouth, making a tight seal.
Place your mouth over both the mouth and nose if the person is an infant. Be careful not to blow too hard into the infant since excess air can go into the stomach and cause vomiting or compression of the lungs. Either one will make delivering air more difficult.
Slowly blow in air until the person’s chest rises. Remove your mouth between breaths and allow time for the person to exhale passively before the next breath.
Step four — Check for pulse
• Locate the main {carotid) artery in the neck by placing the tips of your index and middle finger on the Adam’s apple and sliding them toward your own body into the groove between the trachea (windpipe) and the muscles at the side of the neck.
• With an infant, check for the brachial pulse on the inside of the upper arm.
• Hold your fingers in place for five to 10 seconds.
if there is a pulse
Continue rescue breathing. Do not do chest compressions on a person who has a pulse. CPR performed on a person whose heart is beating can cause serious injury. Instead:
Blow air into the lungs 12 times per minute (once every five seconds) for an adult and 15 times per minute for a small child (once every four seconds). Breathe 20 times per minute (once every three seconds) for an infant.
Check the pulse once per minute to make sure the heart is still beating. Continue breathing as long as necessary. A person who seems to have recovered needs to be seen by a doctor, since shock is a common occurrence after breathing has stopped.
If there is no pulse
Step five — Begin chest compressions
Find the lower rib cage and move your fingers up the rib cage to the notch where the ribs meet the lower breastbone in the center of the lower part of the chest.
Place the heel of one hand down on the breastbone and your other hand on top of the one that is in position. In children 1 to 8 years old, use the heel of one hand rather than both hands.
Do not compress the chest with your fingers. This can damage the ribs.
Lock your elbows into position with your arms straight. Place your shoulders directly over your hands so the thrust of each compression goes straight down on the chest.
Push down with a steady, firm thrust, compressing the chest one to two inches for an adult.
Lift your weight from the person and repeat. Do not lift your hands from the person’s chest between thrusts.
Do 15 chest compressions in about 10 seconds.
After 15 compressions, quickly tilt the head and lift the chin of the person (as previously instructed), pinch the nose and breathe two slow breaths to fill the lungs. The chest must deflate after each breath.
Continue this cycle (15 compressions and two breaths) at the rate of 80 – 100 compressions per minute. Check the person’s pulse after one minute. Continue the compressions and breathing until help arrives if there is still no pulse.
For children 1 to 8 years old, compress the chest one to one and one-half inches and give five chest compressions to one breath.
Extra care must be taken when performing CPR on an infant:
If chest compression is necessary, position your index and middle fingers on the baby’s breastbone.
Gently compress the chest no more than one inch. Count out loud as you pump in a rapid rhythm — roughly one and one-half times a second or about 100 times a minute.
Gently give one breath (with your mouth covering the baby’s mouth and nose) after every fifth compression.
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