CPR (aka cardiac massage) is a form of resuscitation used in extreme cases when the injured or sick individual is unresponsive and seems unconscious. It’s important to keep the heartbeat up and breathing stable in such cases because failure to do so can result in long-term health consequences and even death.
CPR is meant to provide enough life support before real medical specialists can arrive on the spot and provide help. It’s stressful enough to provide CPR to an adult, but what about children? CPR training for childcare providers has a special set of rules.
It’s particularly important for daycare workers to know child CPR. They are in constant contact with children, and kids are known for incidentally injuring themselves. Sometimes the injuries can be severe enough to cause cardiac arrest or problems with breathing. That’s exactly the right time to use CPR, as taught in your local CPR trainings. That being said, not a lot of people know how to even resuscitate adults, much less children. It’s a problem because kids are more fragile and incorrect application of CPR can injure the baby.
CPR instructions for daycare
Here is a breakdown of what is typically covered, whether it is professional or cheap CPR first aid training. Before starting to apply pressure to the heart, it’s important to know if the child even needs resuscitation. For starters, assess the situation: if you see an unconscious child with no signs of movement, they might be in need of a cardiac massage. ]62
You should not start massaging just yet – try bringing the injured back to consciousness, first. Yelling the child’s name (if you know it) is a good way to start. If they don’t respond or move, try tapping their shoulder lightly and continue shouting. In case it doesn’t work, start resuscitation.
Don’t forget to call 911, first! The benefits of the CPR training are that you can sustain the person until professionals arrive. After that, kneel beside the child and commence the procedure. Make sure to position your hands right in the center of the chest. Place the lower part of one palm onto the child’s chest, and use the other to apply pressure. Position it so that fingers of the latter are located above those of the former, but don’t use them to press the chest – the lower palm is supposed to do that. That’s one way to do it, although American Redcross CPR and BLS training may teach other techniques.
Another important procedure to know if you’re a daycare provider is the resuscitation of babies. If you happened to see a small baby (which is possible in a daycare) who doesn’t appear to move or breathe, you need to position yourself even lower (bend your hips sideways, for instance), place two thumbs near each other in the center of the chest below the baby’s nipples and start applying some pressure. It’s also crucial to use the free fingers to hold the child’s body, which should give support.
Artificial respiration is not recommended if you just happened to witness a cardiac arrest, but 1st aid CPR trainings will teach you that anyway. If the child doesn’t appear to breathe, you need to open their mouth and breathe in without excessive force (you generally need to apply as little force as possible). Do that for about a second and then stop. If the chest has inflated slightly, it’s a good indicator.
Signing up for CPR, BLS and first aid training near me
If you want to spread the message as far as possible or learn to do child CPR in practice, you should consider signing up for pediatric CPR classes or have your co-workers sign up with you. There’s no CPT trainings expiration, you can come any time. Knowing how to perform this procedure can save a little life.
You can attend the classes held at Waltham, which is just west of central Boston. Just go to SavingHands.net, select ‘Courses’, proceed to ‘Adult and Pediatric CPR’, and sign up for the classes. You won’t lose much time because CPR training length is usually just minuscule, but the payoff is huge.
