Information for patients and visitors
Infant Resuscitation
Advice for Parents & Carers
Children’s Services
Women & Children’s Services
This leaflet has been designed to
give parents and carers important
guidance on how to resuscitate
infants and young children.
Information for patients and visitors
Introduction

This leaflet is designed to give parents and
carers important guidance on how to
resuscitate infants and young children.
At the same time, with your fingertip(s)
under the point of baby’s chin, lift the
chin a little

Do not push on the soft tissue under the
chin as this may block the airway (see
picture below). This places the head in
the neutral position
Benefits
To allow parents and family members to be
able to recognise the need for, and begin
resuscitation should the need arise, and
when to call for help.
An infant is a child under the age of
1 year
B - Breathing
Keeping the airway open, look, listen and
feel for normal breathing by putting your face
close to baby’s face and looking along the
chest. Take no longer than 10 seconds to do
this:

Look for chest movement

Listen at baby’s nose and mouth for
breath sounds
Ensure that it is safe to approach the baby.

Feel for air movement on your cheek
S - Stimulate
If baby is breathing:
Gently flick the baby’s heals / tug baby’s hair
to check if responsive. Do not shake the
baby.

Place baby on his/her side (recovery
position). You may require a pillow to
hold baby in this position
If baby responds by moving / crying:
Always take an S - S - S - A - B - C
approach
S - Safety


Ensure help is on the way
Leave baby in the position you find
him/her, provided they are not in danger

Reassess regularly

Get help if required

Reassess regularly
If baby is not breathing or is making
infrequent, irregular breaths, deliver 5
rescue breaths:
If baby does not respond:

Place baby on a firm surface
S - Shout for help

As soon as someone arrives ensure they call
999 for an ambulance.
Ensure a neutral position to the head
(see picture below)

Check the baby’s mouth and carefully
remove any visible obstruction

Take a breath and cover baby’s mouth
and nose with your mouth (see picture
below), making sure you have a good
seal (if the nose and mouth cannot both
be covered in the older baby, attempt to
A - Airway
Open airway:

Place your hand on baby’s forehead and
gently lift baby’s head back
Information for patients and visitors
seal only the baby’s nose or mouth with
your mouth. If the nose is used ensure
the mouth is closed)

Blow steadily over 1 – 1.5 seconds. This
must be sufficient to make the chest rise
visibly

Maintain the neutral position. Take your
mouth away and watch for baby’s chest
to fall as the air comes out


Do not apply pressure over the upper
abdomen

Press the sternum to one third of the
depth of the chest

Release the pressure but do not lose
contact between your fingers and baby’s
chest. Repeat at a rate of about 100 per
minute (a little less than 2 a second)

Continue with chest compressions and
rescue breaths at a ratio of 30
compressions to 2 rescue breaths. This
is cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR

If you are alone and have not alerted the
emergency services continue CPR for
approximately 1 minute before going for
help. Take baby to the phone and dial
999 and ask for an ambulance
Repeat the sequence to give five breaths
in total
If you have difficulty achieving an
effective breath:

Remove any visible obstruction. DO
NOT perform a BLIND finger sweep

Ensure that the baby’s head is in the
neutral position and not tilted back too far
Continue CPR until:

Qualified help arrives and takes over or,
baby starts breathing normally
Now deliver 30 chest compressions

You become exhausted
Place two fingers in the middle of the
sternum (breast bone), one fingers breadth
above the lower tip of the sternum (see
picture below).
Choking
C- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
Choking is characterised by sudden onset
coughing. Often the baby has been playing
with or eating small objects. The cough may
be effective or ineffective:
Information for patients and visitors
Ineffective Coughing
 Unable to make
sounds
 Quiet or silent
cough
 Unable to
breathe
Effective Coughing
 Crying


Decreasing level
of consciousness

Loud cough

Able to breathe
before
coughing
Fully
responsive
Effective coughing:


If the baby is coughing effectively
continue to encourage coughing and
monitor continuously
If the baby’s coughing is, or is becoming
ineffective, shout for help. Is the baby
conscious?
Conscious choking baby
If baby is still conscious but has absent /
ineffective cough, give back blows:

Support baby on his tummy in headdownwards position

A seated or kneeling rescuer should be
able to support the baby safely across
his lap

Do not compress the soft tissues under
the baby’s jaw but support the head by
placing the thumb of one hand at the
corner of the jaw and one or two fingers
of the same hand at the same point on
the other side of the jaw

Deliver up to five sharp blows with the
heel of the hand in the middle of the back
between the shoulder blades (see picture
below):

The aim is to relieve the obstruction with
each blow rather than to give all five
If back blows do not relieve the
obstruction give chest thrusts:

Turn baby onto their back into the head
downward position

Place your free arm along baby’s back
and encircle the back of the head with
your hand

Place your fingers on baby’s chest as if
you are doing chest compressions (see
picture below):
Information for patients and visitors

Deliver 5 chest thrusts. These are
similar to chest compressions but
sharper in nature and delivered at a
slower rate
If it can, then attempt to remove it with a
single finger sweep

DO NOT USE Abdominal Thrusts
(Heimlich Manoeuvre) on a BABY.
If it appears that the obstruction has
been removed, open and check the
Airway and Breathing (as above).
Continue to give CPR if not breathing
If the object has not been expelled and the
baby is still conscious, continue the
sequence of back blows and chest thrusts:
(Remember if alone summon ambulance
after approximately 1 minute, taking baby
to the phone with you)

Call out, or send for help if it is still not
available


Do not leave baby at this stage
If the object is expelled successfully ensure
that baby is examined by a medical
practitioner or in Accident and Emergency if
GP cannot see your baby immediately
Unconscious baby who has
choked:

If the choking baby is, or becomes
unconscious place him on a flat surface

Call out, or send for help if it is still not
available

Do not leave baby at this stage
Open Airway:

Open mouth and look for an obvious
object

If one is seen, make an attempt to
remove it with a single finger sweep. Do
not attempt blind or repeated finger
sweeps
Now follow the CPR sequence, as outlined
above in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
(CPR) with the following difference:

Immediately prior to attempting to deliver
two rescue breaths look to see if an
obvious object can be seen in the mouth.
If baby regains consciousness, place in
recovery position and monitor while
waiting for an ambulance
Information for patients and visitors
Additional Information
If you have any concerns please do not
hesitate to speak to either a member of
nursing or medical staff.
Alternatively you could seek advice from your
baby’s GP or NHS 111
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSse
rvices/Emergencyandurgentcareservices/Pa
ges/NHS-111.aspx
References
Resuscitation Council UK
www.resus.org.uk
Accessed March 2015
Information for patients and visitors
Information for patients and visitors
Information for patients and visitors
Concerns and Queries
If you have any concerns / queries about any
of the services offered by the Trust, in the
first instance, please speak to the person
providing your care.
For Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital
Zero Tolerance - Violent,
Threatening and Abusive Behaviour
The Trust and its staff are committed to
providing high quality care to patients within
the department. However, we wish to advise
all patients / visitors that the following
inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated:
Alternatively you can contact the Patient
Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on
(01472) 875403 or at the PALS office which
is situated near the main entrance.

Swearing

Threatening / abusive behaviour

Verbal / physical abuse
For Scunthorpe General Hospital
The Trust reserves the right to withdraw from
treating patients whom are threatening /
abusive / violent and ensuring the removal of
those persons from the premises.
Alternatively you can contact the Patient
Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on
(01724) 290132 or at the PALS office which
situated on C Floor.
Alternatively you can email:
nlg-tr.PALS@nhs.net
Confidentiality
Information on NHS patients is collected in a
variety of ways and for a variety of reasons
(e.g. providing care and treatment, managing
and planning the NHS, training and
educating staff, research etc.).
All acts of criminal violence and aggression
will be notified to the Police immediately.
Risk Management Strategy
The Trust welcomes comments and
suggestions from patients and visitors that
could help to reduce risk.
Perhaps you have experienced something
whilst in hospital, whilst attending as an
outpatient or as a visitor and you felt at risk.
Everyone working for the NHS has a legal
duty to keep information about you
confidential. Information will only ever be
shared with people who have a genuine
need for it (e.g. your GP or other
professionals from whom you have been
receiving care) or if the law requires it, for
example, to notify a birth.
Please tell a member of staff on the ward or
in the department you are attending / visiting.
Please be assured however that anyone who
receives information from us is also under a
legal duty to keep it confidential.
Patients are always encouraged to help
themselves as much as possible when
mobilising, and if unable to do so, equipment
may be used to assist in their safe transfer.
Moving & Handling
The Trust operates a Minimal Lifting Policy,
which in essence means patients are only
ever lifted by nursing staff in an emergency
situation.
If you have any questions regarding moving
and handling of patients within the Trust,
Information for patients and visitors
please speak to a member of staff in the
ward or department you are visiting.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS
Foundation Trust
Diana Princess of Wales Hospital
Scartho Road
Grimsby
01472 874111
Scunthorpe General Hospital
Cliff Gardens
Scunthorpe
01724 282282
Goole & District Hospital
Woodland Avenue
Goole
01405 720720
www.nlg.nhs.uk
Date of issue: June, 2015
Review Period: June, 2018
Author: NICU
IFP-431 v1.2
© NLGFT 2015