Giving CPR to Toddlers

Choking
can be fatal and a doctor is your first recourse in such a situation. Call 911 or your
local emergency number before you do anything else. Obviously in a life-threatening emergency, you
don’t want to be reading information off the web. That’s why every parent should get choking and CPR
training at their local hospital.  However, if you were to find yourself in this situation
without a doctor or emergency facilities, here is how you can give CPR (cardiopulmonary
resuscitation) to the choking toddler.

• Place the toddler on a flat surface, face upwards.
• Cover the toddler’s mouth with your mouth and blow in air two times. Each breath should
  take only one second.
• Support the head and neck with one hand and thrust the chest
  thirty times-be firm yet gentle as children’s bones can snap easily.
• Continuously repeat
  the cycle of two breaths and thirty presses.
• The toddler should start breathing after four
  or five of such attempts.
• Whether or not the child starts breathing, get medical help as
  soon as possible. 

Here is how to give
correct chest thrusts:

• Press two or three fingers of your free hand to push on the
  breastbone.
• Apply pressure to the chest thirty times at the speed of hundred thrusts per
  minute.
• The thrust should take the chest at least to half or one third of the depth of the
  toddlers chest.

CPR can be given by one or by two persons. In there are two persons
giving CPR, one person will press the chest and the other person will blow air into the mouth. Both
actions should not be done at the same time. When one person blows air the other person
should stop thrusting the chest and vice versa.

Obviously, in a life-threatening
emergency, you don’t want to be reading information off the web. That’s why every parent should get
choking and CPR training at their local hospital.

Disclaimer:The above information is commonsense reflection drawn from
general experience.If you are looking for expert medical advice, please consult your
doctor.