CPR in Children

Sudden cardiac arrest is less common in children than it is in adults. It usually happens when there is a lack of oxygen caused by a breathing problem such as choking, near-drowning, or respiratory infections. Because oxygen often corrects the problem in a child, when an unresponsive, non-breathing child is found, CPR is performed for 1 minute before activating the EMS system. This may reverse the lack of oxygen and revive the child.

In order to use an AED on a child from one year of age through eight years of age a special pediatric cable is used to reduce the amount of energy provided by the electrical shock.

Doing CPR on children aged one year to eight years is similar to doing CPR on adults. However, there are some minor differences. Most are due to the child's smaller size.

• When compressing the chest, the heel of only 1 hand is used instead of 2 hands, and the chest is pressed down about ½ of its depth.
  
  
• Perform 5 cycles of 30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths, then use an AED to evaluate the heart rhythm if available.. If an AED is not available, and the child is still not breathing normally, coughing, or moving, continue cycles of 30 compressions to 2 breaths until help arrives.