Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a life-saving procedure performed when someone’s breathing or heart stops, often due to cardiac arrest. For children, understanding the correct CPR techniques is important because their needs differ from adults. Knowing how to deliver effective chest compressions and rescue breaths can improve outcomes.
The Correct Ratio for Two-Rescuer Child CPR
When two rescuers are present, the recommended compression-to-ventilation ratio for child CPR is 15 compressions followed by 2 ventilations. This contrasts with the 30:2 ratio used for a single rescuer. This ratio ensures adequate blood circulation and oxygen. The goal is to maintain continuous blood flow to the brain and heart.
In a two-rescuer scenario, one rescuer focuses on delivering chest compressions, while the other manages the airway and provides ventilations. This coordinated effort allows for minimal interruptions in chest compressions, important for consistent blood flow. Rescuers should aim for a compression rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute. After every 15 compressions, the second rescuer delivers two breaths, ensuring the chest visibly rises with each ventilation.
Why Child CPR Differs
Cardiac arrest in children has different underlying causes compared to adults, which influences the approach to CPR. While adult cardiac arrest is caused by primary heart issues, pediatric cardiac arrest results from respiratory problems or shock. Conditions such as choking, severe asthma, or drowning can lead to a lack of oxygen, causing the heart to stop. Children in cardiac arrest often have healthy hearts that stop due to oxygen deprivation, not initial heart malfunction.
Because pediatric cardiac arrest is oxygen-deprivation related, providing effective ventilations is important in child CPR. Children have smaller lung capacities and different metabolic needs, making the timely delivery of oxygen through rescue breaths a factor in their survival. Emphasizing both compressions and ventilations helps address the respiratory origins of cardiac arrest in this age group, aiming to restore oxygen to the body and improve outcomes.
Ensuring Effective CPR Component Delivery
The effectiveness of two-rescuer child CPR depends on the quality of both compressions and ventilations, as well as the coordination between rescuers. High-quality chest compressions involve pressing down at least one-third the depth of the child’s chest (approximately 2 inches for older children and 1.5 inches for infants). It is important to allow the chest to fully recoil after each compression to ensure the heart can refill with blood, a crucial step for effective circulation.
Effective ventilations require ensuring a visible chest rise with each breath, avoiding excessive or forceful breaths that could cause complications. The two-rescuer approach allows for good coordination: one rescuer can focus solely on maintaining high-quality compressions, while the other ensures proper airway management and ventilation. Rescuers should switch roles approximately every two minutes, or after about five cycles of 15 compressions and 2 breaths, to prevent fatigue and maintain the quality of CPR. This teamwork helps sustain the necessary rate and depth of compressions and the efficacy of ventilations, improving outcomes.