All parents should know how to perform CPR for babies and a new online video from St John Ambulance should help.
More: Infant CPR and choking: How to handle these emergencies (GIFs)
The U.K.’s leading first aid charity has created a two-minute video featuring memorable nursery rhyme characters like Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill and the catchy rhyme, “Puff, puff and 30 more pumps… repeat this until the ambulance comes.”
A St John Ambulance poll revealed that 1 in 4 parents wouldn’t know how to perform CPR on a baby if it stopped breathing, despite that being their biggest fear.
The video urges parents to first call 999 unless they are on their own, in which case they should do one minute of CPR before calling for help.
They should tilt the baby’s head back, cover the nose and mouth and give five puffs, each lasting around a second. Next they should use two fingers in the centre of the chest to give 30 pumps at a rate of 100 to 120 per minute. This sequence should be repeated with two puffs and 30 pumps until help arrives.
More: Toddler miraculously “fine” after 101 minutes of CPR
The Nursery Rhymes Inc campaign follows last year’s The Chokeables, which taught parents how to help a choking baby and is credited with saving the lives of 46 children.
“We know that a major barrier to parents learning is that baby CPR frightens them, so we’ve removed the fear factor and made it reassuring and as easy as possible to learn,” said Sue Killen from St John Ambulance. “We hope the song will stick in everyone’s heads. We’re asking everyone to share the video so that all parents, grandparents and carers can learn what to do in those crucial minutes after a baby has stopped breathing.”
For more first aid advice and information on baby first aid training courses visit the St John Ambulance website.
More: Mum asks Lego to make a change after her son swallows a brick
Leave a Comment