When a person ceases to breathe, there are just a few critical minutes that exist prior to permanent brain damage or death. Rescue breathing can be performed when the individual still has a pulse, but is not breathing. The following instructions involve the process with which to provide rescue breathing for a child (ages 1 to puberty, or approximately age 12).
1Check the scene to be sure it is safe to perform rescue breathing.Ad
2Request that bystanders contact emergency services.
3Ask the child in a loud tone if he or she is alright, while gently tapping him or her on the shoulder. Do not jostle a child that appears to have back or neck injuries.
4Turn the child onto his or her back, taking care to be gentle in the case of internal injuries. If there are other individuals present at the scene, recruit their help in turning the child over.
5Check for signs of breathing by observing the presence of the chest rising and falling.
6Seek out a pulse by placing 2 fingertips to the carotid artery at the outside of the neck. If you have having trouble finding the correct spot, gently tilt the child's head back and check for the pulse again.
- If the child has no pulse, proceed to CPR.
- If the child is not breathing, but has a pulse, proceed to rescue breathing.
7Tilt the head back at a slight angle using the tips of your fingers below the chin and, using your palm, push gently downward against the back of the head.
8Give the child 1 slow breath (just enough to gently raise the lungs) every 3 seconds.
9Determine if breaths are raising the chest.
- If they are not entering the lungs, re-tilt the head and try again.
- If the breaths are still not inflating the lungs, proceed to abdominal thrusts.
10Check for a pulse after 1 minute of rescue breathing.
11Determine if the child has a pulse. If there is a pulse, but no breathing, continue rescue breathing while stopping to check the pulse after each minute. If the pulse stops, immediately begin CPR.
12Continue rescue breathing until the child is revived, help arrives or you are too tired to maintain the rescue breathing.Ad
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- If you see the child collapse, call 911 before beginning a rescue breathing assessment.
- The main reasons for a child to experience lack of breathing and/or heart rate generally involve: drowning, choking, suffocation, electrical shock, head trauma, serious injury, bleeding, poisoning and lung disease.
- If your rescue breaths are not entering the lungs, immediately begin abdominal thrusts.
- If the child has no pulse, immediately begin CPR.
- These instructions apply to rescue breathing for children. Babies and adults have different instructions.
- Do not perform rescue breathing on a stranger without wearing a protective mask.
Things You'll Need
- Protective mask
- Phone to call emergency services
Sources and Citations