CHECKING THE PERSON

CHECKING FOR CONSCIOUSNESS Determine if the person conscious. Tap him/ her on the shoulder and speak loudly. If patient is an infant, tap the infant on the bottom of the foot. Unconscious is always a life threatening emergency

CHECKING RESPONSIVENESS Painful Stimuli A Sternal Rub may help you establish if the person is indeed unresponsive. You do not want to perform CPR on someone conscious and still breathing.

CHECKING RESPONSIVENESS Painful Stimuli Trap Squeeze – Grasp the muscle in the shoulder by your thumb and finger and squeeze into the hollow part of the collarbone.

CHECKING AN UNCONSCIOUS PERSON Once you or someone else has called 911, check for : Has an open airway. Is breathing normally. Is bleeding severely.

AIRWAY An open airway allows air to enter the lungs for the person to breathe.

TO OPEN AN UNCONSCIOUS ADULT’S AIRWAY Head-tilt /chin-lift technique: Push down on his or her forehead while pulling up the chin with two or three fingers of your other hand. This allows the tongue to move away from the back of the throat.

TO OPEN AN UNCONSCIOUS CHILD’S AIRWAY Modified Head-tilt /chin-lift technique: Place one hand on the forehead and tilt the head slightly past the neutral position.

IF PERSON HAS A SUSPECTED HEAD, NECK OR SPINE INJURY, CAREFULLY TILT THE HEAD AND LIFT THE CHIN JUST ENOUGH TO OPEN THE AIRWAY.

STOMA A stoma is a surgical opening in the front of the neck that allows a person to breathe (instead of breathing through the mouth). Check the person’s neck to see if the patient breathes through an opening. It is important to recognize the difference in the way a person breathes.

BREATHING After opening the airway, you must check an unconscious person for signals of breathing.

LOOK, LISTEN AND FEEL Position yourself so that you can look to see if the person’s chest clearly rises and falls. Listen for air escaping from the nose and the mouth. Feel for the breaths against the side of your face. This process should take no more than 10 seconds.

NORMAL BREATHING Normal breathing is regular, quiet and effortless. A person should not be working hard or struggling. If the unconscious person is breathing normally that means the heart is beating and is circulating blood containing oxygen.

UNCONSCIOUS ADULT NOT BREATHING /SHALLOW BREATHING Assume Cardiac Emergency. Start CPR chest compressions immediately. In case of drowning or respiratory emergency, give two rescue breaths before starting chest compression.

UNCONSCIOUS CHILD NOT BREATHING Give two rescue breaths if you did not see the sudden collapse of a child or infant. If you witness child collapse, assume cardiac emergency and start compressions first.

RESCUE BREATHS Open airway using the head-tilt / chin-lift technique and give two rescue breaths. Apply a breathing barrier if available. Pinch the nose shut then make a complete seal over the person’s mouth. Blow in for about 1 second to make the chest clearly rise. If the chest does not clearly rise after the first breath, re-tilt the head to open the airway.

RESCUE BREATHS FOR A CHILD/INFANT There are a few slight variations when giving rescue breaths to a child : Use less air in each breath. Deliver breaths at a slightly faster pace. Do not tilt the head as far back.

USING CPR BREATHING BARRIERS CPR breathing barriers (such as face shields and resuscitation masks) create a barrier between your mouth and nose and those of the injured or ill person. Protects you from contact with blood or body fluid and from breathing the air that the person exhales.

CPR BARRIERS