Video:How to Perform CPR on Toddlers

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Transcript:How to Perform CPR on Toddlers

Hi, I am Dr. Charles Goodwin, a pediatric surgeon. Today I am going to show you how to give CPR to toddlers.

The Three C's of Toddler CPR

Anytime we come across a victim we are going to think about the three C's. The first C is check; we are going to check to see is the scene safe, we must be sure it's safe for us as well as the patient. We are going to check and see can we tell what happened, and if that person is unconscious, we are going to shake them and see are they okay. "Are you okay?" Once we have done these things, now we are going to call. The first time we identify a significant problem, we are going to have someone call. "You call 911." Now, we are going to get into care.

Open Toddler's Airway

The care breaks down into the ABC's. The A means that we open the airway, we are going to tilt the head, not quite as much as in an adult, but more than in a baby, so we are going to tilt her head back. Now we are going to check for breathing; we are going to put our ear next to the mouth and nose. We are going to look at the chest to see is the chest rising and falling, and we are going to listen to see do we hear air moving in and out. So we are looking, listening, and feeling, and we will spend about ten seconds doing this.

Blow Air Into Toddler's Mouth

Now, once we have decided that there is no air moving, we are going to put our face shield on, and with the head tilted, we are going to pinch the nose and blow air into the mouth. Now, the most common thing that blocks the airway in an unconscious person is the tongue, so that air not going in we would re-tilt. If the air did go in, then we are going to feel by the side of the neck to see is there a pulse.

Move Onto Chest Compressions

If there is no pulse, now we are going to give chest compressions. At this age, we are going to press in about one-and-a-half inches and we are going to do it really with one hand; 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9 and 10 and 11 and 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. And of course that's doing that about 100 times a minute. We then go back and repeat two breaths followed by 30 chest compressions. We do this for a cycle of five times of two breaths and 30 compressions. At that time we stop and reassess whether or not the patient is breathing and if there is a heartbeat. We are going to continue this until the patient recovers, more skilled help arrives, or we get so tired we just can't continue.

This is how we do CPR on toddlers.