Tag Archives: drowning

child drowning

CPR Makes Big Difference in Child Drownings

Dougherty County emergency responders see near and accidental drownings involving children quite often this time of year. Sometimes three in one day. They say knowing how and when to give them CPR can shave precious minutes, and save lives.

“The quicker you can get blood circulation through an external compression, the better chance they have of survival,” said Dickie Livingston, who is the training and compliance Supervisor with Dougherty County EMS.

Just with any other procedure, there is a specific approach to address a child in distress. Learn child and infant CPR online.

“You come up on a child, say you pull them out of a swimming pool, you get them out, tap them, make sure they’re unresponsive, and you holler for help. You tell somebody to go call 911 bring an AED.”

Livingston says it’s okay to hold off on CPR until help arrives if the child starts coughing. But if he or she doesn’t, that’s when you start the chest compressions.

“You put your single hand in the middle of their chest. Upper third of the chest. Press down about two inches,” Livingston added.

You will need to compress hard and fast…at least one hundred times per minute.

“For every thirty compressions that you do, you stand and open their mouth, tilt their head back a little bit. So they don’t have any trauma, blow two breaths in their lungs,” explained Livingston. “Just enough to make the chest rise and immediately go back to chest compressions until help arrives, or until the patient becomes responsive.”

It can take between two and seven minutes for the CPR to be effective, until paramedics arrive on scene.

“And at that point, they’ll come in, they’ll start taking over, and start doing CPR, and we’ll get there, and we’ll start giving drugs and put them on the monitor and see what exactly’s going on with the heart and fix it from there,” added Livingston.

The CPR method should be the same for every child, regardless of their size and weight. It’s acceptable to use two hands, but larger adults may only have to use one.

“The biggest thing is you have to press down hard enough to mash the heart between the sternum and the spine. If it takes two hands, if you’re small, then you have to use two hands.”

Article Source: https://fox28media.com/news/local/proper-cpr-makes-life-and-death-difference-in-accidental-child-drownings

Online CPR and BLS Classes and Certification

Sixth Grader Saves Life With CPR

Thanks to 11-year-old  Skylar Berry, 6th grade classes at Orchard Elementary School are a little different than usual. That’s because Berry is adamant that all her peers learn CPR.

Students huddle around Berry as she demonstrated hands-only CPR. Her classmates are learning simple chest compressions to the beat of the disco hit “Stayin’ Alive.”

So why is this 6th  grader so passionate about CPR? She recently used it to save a friend’s life at a birthday pool party. The kids were playing in the pool when they realized that one of their friends was at the bottom. They dragged him out and realized he wasn’t breathing. Checking his pulse, Berry knew she only had one choice to try and save his life.

“It was pretty cool. I’ve never seen an 11-year-old do CPR on another kid. It was so relieving,” says the birthday boy, David Baltzley.

A little overwhelmed by all the attention, the boy is back in school, feeling just fine. Berry credits the Sacramento Metro Fire Department and their Fire Camp for teaching her about CPR and water safety. She’s hoping to spend whatever free time she has this school year to teach others to save lives, including spreading the word about her new CPR club.

“We want to teach other kids that real life situations are no joke,” Berry explains. “It’s no time to mess around.”

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/10/03/inspiration-nation-6th-grader-saves-life-with-cpr/16649841/

pool safety

CPR Can Help Victims of Drowning

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the No. 1 cause of unintentional death between ages 1 and 4, and the No. 2 cause between ages 5 and 9. The latest national data show 702 U.S. children under age 15 drowned in 2017.

The figures are not broken down by ethnic group, but minorities may be at even greater risk. The USA Swimming Foundation reports 64% of African American children and 45% of Hispanic children have low or no swimming ability, compared to only 40% of white children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated its recommendations for preventing drowning in children, ranging from vigilance at bath time and emptying buckets and wading pools immediately after use to teaching children to swim and encouraging teenagers to learn CPR.

If a drowning emergency should occur, every second makes a difference.

When tragedy strikes, start by calling 911 immediately. Get the victim to a safe area and assess for signs of life. If they’re not breathing normally, start CPR.

For drowning victims, the American Heart Association recommends CPR with chest compressions and rescue breaths.