SSS approach - Safe, stimulate, shout

If an infant or child is found unresponsive, the rescuer should initially call for help, before starting the following sequence:

• Open airway
• If not breathing normally, 5 rescue breaths
• If no signs of life, 15 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths
• Continue repetition of compressions and breaths at a 15:2 ratio

Airway positions

• Infants: neutral
• Young children: 'sniffing the morning air' - a very slight extension of the neck
• Older children: head tilt, chin lift. Followed by a jaw thrust if necessary.

Differences in breathing aspects

• Paediatric life support's first intervention is to give 5 rescue breaths first
• A child is more likely to arrest from a respiratory cause than a cardiac cause

How to measure pulses

• Carotid pulse in children aged >1 years old
• Brachial or femoral pulses in infants

How to perform chest compressions

• Rate: 100-120 compressions a minute
• There must be full recoil of the chest