CPR - Airway and breathing

1.Always ensure your safety first.
2.Check for responsiveness by placing one hand on the forehead and tagging at the hair or shaking the hand. If the child /infant does not move, cry or talk, he is unresponsive (unconscious).
3.If the child/infant is unconscious, shout for help. Do not leave them alone.
4.Open the airway. Approach the child from the side and lift the chin with two fingers of one hand and with the other hand tilt the head by pushing down on the forehead. The head of an infant should be placed in a neutral position while that of a child may be slightly extended. Look inside the mouth for any obvious objects. Do not attempt to remove any object if you are not confident that you can remove it with one single finger sweep. Blind or repeated finger sweep can cause the object to move deeper into the airway.
5.Assess for signs of spontaneous breathing. Position your cheek a few cms above the infant/child's mouth and nose and look along their body. In this position, look for the rise and fall of the chest and abdomen, listen for breathing sounds and feel for air movement on your cheek. If the infant/child is breathing, call for help if not done already or take the child to the nearest health facility. If there is no breathing, or if the infant/child is gasping, five initial rescue breaths should be given.
6.Rescue breaths. Place your mouth over the infants/child nose and mouth to create a seal, take a deep breath and breathe into them for about a second. If it is not possible to cover both the nose and the mouth, pinch the nose and breath into the mouth. If you can see the chest rise and fall, then you are doing it correctly. If the chest is not rising, try opening the airway and breathing into the victim again. If despite repositioning the chest fails to move, it is likely that the airway is completely blocked and you should therefore proceed to give chest compressions. After giving five effective rescue breaths, proceed to check for circulation.

Attribution: Avallain

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