We’ve discussed how to open the airway and check for
breathing. If there is no breathing, you will need to begin breathing for the
victim immediately.
Keep
the airway open and pinch the victim’s nose shut hard enough to be sure
that no air will escape.
Seal
their mouth with yours and give two long breaths, slowly.
If the
breaths don’t make the victim’s chest rise, then re-tilt the victim’s
head. Seal their mouth with yours again, pinch the victim’s nose, and
offer two long breaths again, watching out of the corner of your eyes to
see if their chest rises.
If the
chest still doesn’t rise, the airway might be blocked.
If Artificial
Breathing Doesn’t Work
If the breaths you are giving the victim are not making the
chest rise, you are sure that you have pinched the nose completely closed,
sealed their mouth with yours, and offered the breaths strongly enough, then
you must check the airway to see if it is obstructed.
Put
your index finger underneath the victim’s chin and your thumb inside their
mouth on top of their tongue.
Squeeze
your index finger and thumb and pull the lower jaw (and tongue) down
toward the victim’s chest. The goal of this step is to push the tongue
down as far as possible so that you can clearly see down the victim’s
throat.
If you
have a pen light or small flashlight, use it to look for the object
obstructing the victim’s airway.
If you
can see it, use the index finger of the hand that is not holding the jaw
and tongue down to sweep the object out of the throat. This should unblock
the airway.
Begin
artificial breathing again by pinching the nose, sealing the mouth with
your own, and breathing twice, slowly, watching out of the corner of your
eye to see that the chest moves.
Continue
offering breaths to adult victims once every 5 seconds until the victim
begins breathing autonomously, medical help arrives, or you can continue
no longer.
For
infants, follow the above steps but place your mouth over the baby’s mouth
and nose, instead of pinching the nose and sealing the mouth.
All of
the above steps apply to infants and children up to 8 years old, except the
breath cycles. Offer a breath every 3 seconds until help arrives or the
child begins breathing on its own.
Be
sure that you don’t breathe too hard for infants and children. Breathe
just hard enough that their chest rises gently.