SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - It pays to be prepared for emergency situations while on holiday.
If you were faced with a lifeless body, do you know what to do - or not to do - until the ambulance arrives?
Most parents do not know how to administer basic CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation or mouth-to-mouth). Yet, as you read this, within a radius of 30km from your home, there is probably a CPR class being held.
Make it a priority this summer to learn CPR and to ensure that those who care for your children also know what to do in an emergency.
Basic rescue breaths and chest compressions could save a child's life.
If a child is unconscious and not breathing, you can help.
The correct procedure is to:
1. Move yourself and the child quickly away from any hazards - out of the water or away from the surf in a near drowning incident
2. Check whether the child is conscious by shouting their name close to the ear.
3. Attract bystanders to assist you by shouting for help.
4. Start the resuscitation immediately if you are alone and if there are other people around you, send someone to call for an ambulance. Ask them to mention that the child is unconscious and give a contact number and the exact address/location of the incident.
5. Lie the child on the ground.
6. Open the airway by tilting the head back into the sniffing position.
7. Check if the child is breathing by looking for chest- and/or abdominal movement, listening at the mouth and nose and feeling for breath on your cheek while counting slowly to 10.
8. If there is no breathing or you are in doubt, place your lips over of the child’s lips and, with an open mouth (both) gently breathe out into the child’s mouth while blocking the child’s nose, until the child's chest rises. Do that twice and then,
9. Position yourself at the side of the child with your shoulders immediately above the chest. Place the palm of your hand (or both hands if you need to) in the centre of the child's chest between the nipples, straighten your elbow and press the chest downwards 30 times in quick succession to a count of 1, 2, 3...
10. Repeat the cycle again and again until the ambulance arrives.
Doing the ABCs of resuscitation as mentioned above is not only for water-related emergencies. The principles can be applied to anyone that is unconscious.
CPR is not just for water-related emergencies. It is a life skill that can turn any person into a life-saving hero.
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