First Aid
What to do if your baby has a cardiac or stops breathing?
CPR for Infants Under 1 year old
1. Shout and Tap
Shout and gently tap the child on the shoulder.
If there is no response, position the infant on his or her back.
2. Open The Airway
Open the airway using a head tilt lifting of chin.
Do not tilt the head too far back.
3. Give 2 Gentle Breaths
If the baby is NOT breathing give 2 small gentle breaths.
Cover the baby's mouth and nose with your mouth.
Each breath should be 1 second long.
You should see the baby's chest rise with each breath.
4. Give 30 Compressions
Give 30 gentle chest compressions at the
rate of 100 per minute. Use two or three fingers in
the center of the chest just below the nipples. Press
down approximately one-third the depth of the chest.
5. Repeat
Repeat with 2 breaths and 30 compressions.
After two minutes of repeated cycles call 999 and continue giving breaths and compressions.
What to do if your child or an adult stops breathing?
Child CPR
Adult CPR
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
Definition
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure to support and maintain breathing and circulation for a person who has stopped breathing (respiratory arrest) and/or whose heart has stopped (cardiac arrest).
Purpose
CPR is performed to restore and maintain breathing and circulation and to provide oxygen and blood flow to the heart, brain, and other vital organs. CPR should be performed if a person is unconscious and not breathing. Respiratory and cardiac arrest can be caused by allergic reactions, an ineffective heartbeat, asphyxiation, breathing passages that are blocked, choking, drowning, drug reactions or overdoses, electric shock, exposure to cold, severe shock, or trauma. CPR can be performed by trained bystanders or healthcare professionals on infants, children, and adults. It should always be performed by the person on the scene who is most experienced in CPR.
Precautions
CPR should never be performed on a healthy person because it can cause serious injury to a beating heart by interfering with normal heartbeats.
Description
CPR is part of the emergency cardiac care system designed to save lives. Many deaths can be prevented by prompt recognition of the problem and notification of the emergency medical system (EMS), followed by early CPR, defibrillation (which delivers a brief electric shock to the heart in attempt to get the heart to beat normally), and advanced cardiac life support measures.
Note from Kerry:
We were fortunate to have an apnoea pad when Tristan came home from hospital. Indeed, some hospitals may provide one on loan.
This is a small pad that covers the area underneath your baby's cot mattress. The device monitors your baby's breathing and motion, and triggers a loud alarm if either becomes abnormal or stops.
It's frightening when you have had a poorly baby in hospital, monitored 24 hours a day, only to have nothing when baby comes home.
We searched the net and found apnoea pads! We were able to monitor our baby's breathing both day and night, and it was great it really was just like having a nanny at home with us.
Since many parents of young babies will be visiting this site, we would like to promote this excellent 'piece of mind' equipment in the hope that more families could be alerted if their baby was having difficulties. This piece of equipment could help save lives!
Breathing and motion detector, CE approved as a medical device, for home or hospital use in the UK/EU
Symptoms of heart failure in infants are:
1. Difficulty feeding
2. Excessive sweating
3. Failure to grow
4. Older children may experience shortness of breath with exertion
As most CHD babies and children show these kind of symptoms on a daily basis, it can be sometmes difficult to tell whether they are in distress or its just their behaviour. From Kerry's personal experience as a mum of a CHD baby, I have learned that unless my baby is really acting out of character, showing the above signs more so than usual, I would take him straight up to the outpatients' clinic.
Problems with giving Medication
TIPS FOR GIVING MEDICATIONS
"I used plastic syringes and as soon as he was able to hold the syringe, I let him help give the med. If they are involved, you are not giving it to them, they are doing it themselves and they take the meds better. Praise, praise, praise for doing good!"
"If we knew for sure that he didn't swallow it (the medicine), we would blow in his face and that would cause him to swallow the meds."
[Disclaimer] We are not medical personnel & do not intend to take away from your physicians advice. Individual evaluation by an experienced paediatric or adult congenital cardiologist and cardiac surgeon is needed to determine proper diagnosis and the best course of treatment. We are only here to help raise awareness, educate & inform through life experiences.