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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Illustration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
A man doing chest compressions.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a set of actions that should be done if a person stops breathing, or if their heart stops. The goal of CPR is to force blood and oxygen to keep flowing through the body. Every part of the body needs blood and oxygen to survive. CPR does not start a person's heart again. However, it can keep pushing blood and oxygen around the body long enough that sometimes, it can keep the body from getting damaged by not having enough oxygen.

There are different types of CPR. Regular people, who are not medical professionals, can do these things:

  • Realize that a person is not breathing or has suddenly collapsed
  • Call 911 (or whatever the emergency telephone number in their country is)
  • Do chest compressions (press hard and fast in the middle of the chest, on the breastbone, until help comes; this will force blood to keep flowing to the body)

Many medical professionals can also do these things:

  • They can use a machine called a defibrillator to give an electric shock to the heart. This will not restart a heart that is not beating. However, if the heart is beating in a way that is not normal, the electric shock may make the heart go back into a normal rhythm.
  • If the heart is not beating at all, they can give medicines (like epinephrine or atropine) to restart the heart.
  • If the heart is not beating in a normal rhythm, they can give medicines to make it start beating in a normal rhythm again
  • They can force oxygen into a patient's lungs, in a few different ways:
    • With a bag-valve-mask (by placing a mask over the patient's face and squeezing a bag that is attached and is filled with oxygen)
    • By placing a tube down a patient's throat to deliver oxygen more directly (this is called intubation).
  • They can use an artificial pacemaker to do the heart's job, and force the heart to beat at a certain speed and rhythm

Statistics

Time is very important. Each minute that passes before CPR is started lowers the chance of survival by about ten percent. If CPR starts within the first three to five minutes, and a defibrillator is available, the chance of survival can be as high as 50%, or even 75% (That is: one out of two, or three out of four survive). In European countries, emergency services take about eight minutes or more to arrive, once they have been alerted. A victim's survival therefore largely depends on other people who are there and what they do. A quick call to emergency services, and a quick start of basic CPR, especially defibrillation, can double to triple the chance of survival - with adults and children.

Images for kids

  • CPR training-03

    CPR training: CPR is being administered while a second rescuer prepares for defibrillation.

  • Defib with pad positions shown

    One of the many models of automatic defibrillators (AED). Its electrodes are already placed in the two correct areas of the body.

  • AED open cutout

    A model of automatic defibrillator (AED)

  • Defibrillation Electrode Position

    Position of the defibrillator electrodes

  • Internationaal Chirurgencongres te Wenen. Een automatisch hartmassageapparaat, 6 september 1967, Bestanddeelnr 920-6802 (cropped)

    Demonstrating a mechanical heart massage device, Vienna, 1967

  • CPR-groups

    Survival from CPR among various groups

  • CPR-Geo

    CPR success varies widely, so most places can learn from the best practices

  • CPR Training (49386549467)

    US Navy sailors practice chest compressions on mannequins

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Reanimación cardiopulmonar para niños

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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.