Paediatric Basic Life Support
The guidelines for this topic vary according to whether your territory falls under the American Heart Association (AHA) or the European Resuscitation Council (ERC). Please choose which guidelines you'd like to learn about.
This section is based on the American Heart Association guidelines
Publication Name — Circulation.2020;142:S469-S523
2020 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR & ECC – Part 4: Pediatric Basic and Advanced Life Support
Specifically: Page S478, Figure 4. Pediatric BLS for lay rescuers.
Reprinted with permission, Circulation.2020;142:S366-S468, ©2020 American Heart Association, Inc.
https://cpr.heart.org/en/resuscitation-science/cpr-and-ecc-guidelines/algorithms#adult
The guidelines for children in cardiac arrest are the same as those for an adult. There is no absolute age where a distinction should be drawn between and adult and a child. If a child is very small, only one hand can be used for chest compressions rather than two hands. Generally, adults have a cardiac arrest from heart related problems such as a heart attack. Cardiac arrests in children, however, are more commonly due to a breathing issue such as drowning or choking. Hence, rescue breaths play a higher profile role in basic life support in children.
Standard adult AED pads can usually be used on children aged 8 and over with the same energy levels for emergency use.
Guidelines for cardiac arrest in children
- Follow the same guidelines as for adults.
- If you are on your own, perform 2 minutes of CPR before going for help.
- Compress the chest by at least 1/3 of its depth. Use one or two hands to achieve adequate depth of compression.
This section is based on the European Resuscitation Council guidelines
Those who are trained in adult basic life support but have no training with children can use the adult skills on child casualties in cardiac arrest. There is no absolute age where a distinction should be drawn between and adult and a child.
Those with both adult and child training are suggested to make a decision on which guidelines to follow based on the size of the child. Generally, adults have a cardiac arrest from heart-related problems such as a heart attack. Cardiac arrests in children, however, are more commonly due to a breathing issue such as drowning or choking. Hence, ventilations play a higher profile role in basic life support in children.
Standard adult AED pads can usually be used on children aged 8 and over with the same energy levels for emergency use.
Guidelines for cardiac arrest in children
- Give five initial rescue breaths before starting assessing signs of life and chest compressions.
- If you are on your own, perform 1 minute of CPR before going for help.
- Compress the chest by at least 1/3 of its depth. Use one or two hands to achieve adequate depth of compression.
- Ratio of compression to ventilation is 15:2 as ventilation is of higher importance in children.