Pediatric Basic Life Support

The following is the sequence that should be followed by health care professionals

with a duty to respond to pediatric emergencies:

1 ensure the safety of rescuer and child.

2 check the child's responsiveness:

. gently stimulate the child and ask loudly, are you all right?

. don’t shake infant, or children with suspected cervical spine injuries

3 A if the child responds by answering or moving:

. Leave the child in position in which

you find him

. Check his condition and get help if needed

. Reassess him regularly .

3 B if the child does not respond:

.Shout for help . open the child airway by tilting the

head and lifting the chin

If you suspect that there may have been an injury to the neck, try to open the airway by chin tilt alone. If this is unsuccessful, add head tilt a small

amount until the airway is open .

4 keeping the airway open, look, listen, and feel for normal breathing by putting your face close to the child face and looking along the chest:

. look for chest movements.

. listen at the child nose and mouth for breath sounds.

. feel for air movement on your cheek

5 A If the child breath normally: . turn the child on his side into the recovery

position . check for continued breathing.

5 B If the child is not breathing or is making gasps :

. Carefully remove any obvious airway obstruction.

. Give 5 initial rescue breaths. . While performing the rescue breaths note

any gag or cough response to your action. These responses, or their absence, will form part of your assessment of a signs of a circulation.

Rescue breaths: . ensure head tilt and chin lift.

. pinch the soft part of his nose closed with the index finger and thumb of your hand on his forehead

. open his mouth a little ,but maintain the chin upwards. . take a breath and place your lips around his

mouth ,making sure that you have a good seal

. Blow steadily into his mouth over about1-1.5 sec watching for chest rise .

. maintaining head tilt and lift and chin lift take your mouth

away from the victim and watch for his chest to fall as air comes out.

.take another breath and repeat this sequence 5 times .

Identify effectiveness by seeing that the child's chest has risen and fallen in a similar fashion to the movement produced by a normal breath

If you have difficulty achieving an effective breath .the airway may be obstructed

. open the child's mouth and remove any visible obstruction. do not perform a blind finger sweep

. Ensure that there is adequate head tilt and chin lift but also that the neck is not over extended

. if head tilt and chin lift has not opened the airway try the jaw thrust method

. make up to 5 attempts to achieve effective breaths .if still. unsuccessful, move on to chest compression

6 check for signs of a circulation (signs of life) :

Take no more than 10 seconds to : . look for signs of a circulation. These

include any movement, coughing, or normal breathing .

. check the pulse ; no more than 10 sec : . . in a child over than one year – feel for

the carotid pulse in the neck . in an infant – feel for the brachial pulse

on the inner aspect of the upper arm

7 A if there are signs of circulation : . continue rescue breaths until the child

start breath effectively on his own . . turn the child onto his side if he remains

unconscious . . re-assess the child frequently .

7 B if there are no signs of circulation : Or _ no pulse ,

Or _ a slow pulse ( less than 60/min.) Or _ you are not sure :

. start chest compression . . combine rescue breaths and chest

compression.

For all children, compress the lower third of sternum:

. to avoid compressing the upper abdomen, locate the xiphisternum by finding the angle where the lowest ribs join the midline. Compress the sternum one finger breadth above this.

. compression should be sufficient to depress the sternum by approximately one-third of the

depth of the chest . . release the pressure, then repeat at a rate of

about 100/min. . after 15 compression, tilt the head, lift the

chin, and give two effective breaths. . continue compressions and breaths in a ratio

of 15:2

Chest compression in infants: . place both thumbs flat, side by side,

on the lower third of the sternum, with the tips pointing towards the infant head.

. spread the rest of both hands, with the finger together, to encircle the lower part of

the rib cage . . press down on the lower sternum with

your two thumbs to depress it approximately one-third of the depth of the

infant chest .

Chest compression in children over 1 year: . place the heal of one hand over the lower

third of the sternum.. lift the fingers to ensure that pressure is not

applied over the child ribs. . position yourself vertically above the victim

chest and, with your arm straight, compress the sternum to depress it by approximately one-third of the depth of the chest.

. in larger children, this may be achieved most easily by using both hands with the fingers interlocked.

8 continue resuscitation until:

. the child show the signs of life (spontaneous respiration, pulse, movement).

. Further qualified help arrives.

. you become exhausted .

When to call for assistance

It is vital for rescuers to get help as quickly as possible when a child collapses :

. when more than one rescuer is available, one start resuscitation while another goes for assistance

. if only one rescuer is present, undertake resuscitation for about 1 minute before going for assistance. To minimize interruptions in CPR, it may be possible to carry an infant or small children whilst summoning help.

. the only exception to performing 1 min. of CPR before going for help is in the case of a child with a witnessed, sudden collapse when the rescuer is alone. In this case cardiac arrest is likely to be an arrhythmia and the child may need defibrillation. Seek help immediately if there is no one to go for you.

Pediatric advanced life support:

Sequence of actions1 establish basic life support.

2 oxygenate, ventilate, and start chest compression:

. provide positive-pressure ventilation with high-concentration inspired oxygen.

. provide ventilation initially by bag and mask. Ensure a patent airway by using an airway maneuver.

. use a compression rate of 100/min. . as soon as is feasible, an experienced operator

should intubate the child . . once the child has been intubated and

compressions are uninterrupted, use ventilation rate of approximately 10/min

3 attach a defibrillator or monitor: . assess and monitor the cardiac

rhythm. . if using a defibrillator, place one

defibrillator pad or paddle on the chest wall just below the right clavicle, and one in the left axillary line.

. pads or paddles of children should be 8-12 cm in size, and 4.5 cm for infant. In infants and small children it may be best to apply the pads to the

front and back of the chest . .place monitoring electrodes in the

conventional chest positions.

4 assess rhythm and check for signs of circulation (signs of life):

. child—feel for the carotid pulse in the neck.

. infant—feel for the brachial pulse on the inner aspect of the upper arm.

. take no more than 10 seconds for the pulse check.

. assess the rhythm on the monitor:

- non-shockable (asystole or pulseless electrical activity) OR

- shockable (vf/vt) .

5 A non shockable ( asystole or pulseless electrical activity):

This is the most common inchildren. .perform continous CPR:

- continue to ventilate with high-concentration oxygen.

- if ventilation with bag-mask give 15 chest compression to 2 ventilations for all ages

- if the patient is intubated, chest compression can be continuous as long as this does not interfere with satisfactory ventilation.

- use chest compression rate of 100/min . - once the child has been intubated and

compressions are uninterrupted, use ventilation rate of approximately 10/min.

Note: once there is return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) the ventilation rate should be 12-20/min. measure exhaled CO2 to

ensure tracheal tube placement . . give adrenaline:

- if venous or intraosseous (IO) access has been established, give adrenaline 10 micrograms/kg (0.1 ml/kg of 1 in 10000 solution)

- if circulatory access is not present, and cannot be quickly obtained, but the patient has a tracheal tube in place, consider giving adrenaline 100 microgram/kg via the tracheal tube ( 1 ml/kg of 1 in 10,000 solusion) this the

least satisfactory route .continue CPR.

.repeat the cycle : - give adrenaline every 3-5 min

(i.e every other loop) - once the airway is protected by

tracheal intubation, provide ventilation at a rate of 10/min and compression at 100/min

- when circulation is restored, ventilate the child at a rate of 12-20 breath/min to achieve a normal pCO2 , and monitor exhaled CO2

.consider and correct reversible causes: - hypoxia

- hypovolaemia - hyper/hypokalaemia (electrolyte

disturbances) - hypothermia

- tension pneumothorax - thromboembolism

- tamponade - toxic/therapeutic

.consider the use of other medications such as alkalising agents.

5 B shockable (vf/vt) This is less common in paediatric practice

but likely when there has been a witnessed and sudden collapse, it is commoner in the intensive care unit and cardiac ward.

.defibrillate the heart: - give 1 shock of 4 j/kg if using a manual

defibrillator - if using an automated external

defibrillator ( AED ) for a child of 1-8 years, deliver a pediatric attenuated adult shock

energy . - if using an AED for a child over 8 years,

use the adult shock energy

.resume CPR: - without reassessing the rhythm or

feeling for a pulse, resume CPR immediately, starting chest compression.

.continue CPR for 2 min. .pause briefly to check the monitor:

- if still VF/VT, give a second shock. .resume CPR immediately after the

second shock. .consider and correct the reversible

causes (as above) . . continue CPR for 2 min.

.Pause briefly to check the monitor : - if still VF/VT:

. give adrenaline followed immediately by a (3rd) shock .

. resume CPR immediately and continue for 2 min.

.Pause briefly to check the monitor: - if still VF/VT:

. give an intravenous bolus of amiodarone 5 mg/kg and an immediate further (4th) shock.

. continue giving shock every 2 min . give adrenaline immediately before

every other shock (i.e every 3-5 min) until return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC)

Note: after each 2 min of uninterrupted CPR, pause briefly to assess the rhythm.

. if still VF/VT : - continue CPR with the shockable (VF/VT)

sequence. .if asystole:

- continue CPR and swich to the non-shockable (asystole or pulseless electrical activity) sequence as above

. if organized electrical activity is seen, check for a pulse:

- if there is ROSC, continue post-resuscitation care.

- if there is no pulse, and there are no other signs of a circulation, give adrenaline 10 microgram/kg and continue CPR as for the non shockable sequence as above.