Lay person CPR guidelines on infantsCPR performance guidelines for infants are applicable for infants aged between 1 month and 1 year old. This emergency procedure is of paramount importance when attending to an infant who is not breathing or whose heart has stopped beating. When an infant develops the problem in an emergency situation, you can provide CPR on him even if you are not trained to do so as a health worker. Infants can demand emergency attention in such situations which could be as a result of a health problem, an injury or an accident. When doing this procedure on an infant, it is advisable that you combine chest compressions and rescue breathing. If you are not willing to offer mouth to mouth breathing or rescue breathing for one reason or the other, doing chest compressions only is enough and can go a long way in ensuring that the infant survives.

How to attend to an infant who isn’t breathing properly

As highlighted above, there are a couple of reasons which could result to breathing difficulties among infants and in which CPR is recommended particularly when their heart is no longer beating. Considering that you are not trained to offer this kind of medical help, medical experts advice that you start by calling 911 first even before you start attending to the infant. This ensures that the child receives specialized treatment as soon as possible to better his chances of living. Once you call 911, the operator will give you a go ahead to perform the CPR and it is essential that you follow all the guidelines of doing so to the letter.

In case of accidents like fire and water, the infant will of course be at a dangerous area and you should start by moving him carefully to a much safer area. Start by giving the baby a check and you will find out if there are other injuries sustained on their body or not. When you start doing the CPR, ensure that you continue with the procedure until the heart beat resumes or caregivers come to his rescue. Most public places have automated external defibrillators mounted somewhere on the wall and it is essential that you look for it and give the child a heart shock if necessary. Giving CPR to infants follows the same procedure just like in adults and you should follow the general guidelines for best results.

Minimizing cardiac arrest risks in infants

Infants are highly vulnerable to cardiac arrests and there are many items in the environment which can put them in much a great danger. As such, you will need to ensure that your children is living in a safe places and ensure that items or objects that can pose a danger to his respiratory system. Most of the things that you should particularly be careful about include strangulation, suffocation, and obstruction of airway by foreign objects and drowning among other accidents.