Basic Life Support/Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Board takeaway

Recognize arrest promptly, activate emergency response, obtain an automated external defibrillator (AED), and start high-quality CPR.

• Recognition: check breathing and pulse together for no more than 10 seconds; gasping is not normal breathing.
• Child/infant, no advanced airway: 30:2 with one rescuer; 15:2 with two or more.
• Child/infant, advanced airway: continuous compressions at 100–120/min and one breath every 2–3 seconds.
• Infant hand placement: the 2025 AHA chart reproduced by AAPD specifies the heel of one hand or two-thumb encircling hands.

Age groups and arrest recognition

• Adult/adolescent: puberty and beyond.
• Child: 1 year to puberty.
• Infant: younger than 1 year, excluding newborns.
• Confirm that the scene is safe for both rescuers and the patient.
• Check responsiveness and shout for nearby help.
• Arrest recognition: no breathing or only gasping, with no definite pulse felt within 10 seconds.
• Check breathing and pulse simultaneously for at least 5 but no more than 10 seconds.

Emergency activation and AED

• With a mobile device available, call emergency services (911).
• Adult, alone without a mobile device: leave to activate emergency response and obtain the AED/defibrillator before starting CPR. Otherwise, start CPR immediately and use the AED as soon as available.
• Child/infant, lone rescuer, witnessed sudden collapse, no mobile device: leave to activate emergency response and obtain the AED before starting CPR.
• Child/infant, lone rescuer, unwitnessed sudden collapse: perform 5 cycles or about 2 minutes of 30 compressions and 2 breaths before leaving to activate emergency response and obtain an AED.
• Use the AED/defibrillator as soon as it becomes available.

Compression and ventilation pattern

• Compression rate is 100–120/min in every age group, including when an advanced airway is present.

Depth and hand placement

• Adult/adolescent: at least 2 inches (5 cm); no more than 2.4 inches (6 cm). Place two hands in the center of the chest on the lower half of the sternum.
• Child: at least one-third of the chest’s anteroposterior diameter, approximately 2 inches (5 cm). Use one or two hands in the center of the chest on the lower half of the sternum.
• Infant: at least one-third of the chest’s anteroposterior diameter, approximately 1½ inches (4 cm). Use the heel of one hand or the two-thumb encircling-hands technique.

Quality during CPR

• Allow full chest recoil after each compression; avoid leaning on the chest between compressions.
• Keep compression interruptions under 10 seconds.
• Target a chest compression fraction (CCF) of at least 60%.

Common board traps

Answer aloud

You are alone when you discover an infant after an unwitnessed collapse. What changes your sequence?

Start with about two minutes of 30:2 CPR before leaving to activate emergency response and obtain an AED.

• Confirm scene safety and arrest; check breathing and pulse together for 5–10 seconds.
• Call 911 immediately if a mobile device is available.
• The chart specifies five cycles or about two minutes before leaving; use the AED as soon as available.
• Witnessed sudden pediatric collapse without a mobile device instead calls for activation/AED retrieval before CPR.

A second rescuer joins child/infant CPR, then an advanced airway is placed. What changes?

Use 15:2 with two or more rescuers before the advanced airway; afterward use continuous compressions and one breath every 2–3 seconds.

• Compression rate remains 100–120/min.
• One-rescuer child/infant CPR is 30:2 without an advanced airway.
• Adult/adolescent CPR remains 30:2 with one or two rescuers; advanced-airway breaths are every six seconds.

How do you describe high-quality CPR for a child or infant?

Compress at 100–120/min to at least one-third of the chest's anteroposterior depth, with full recoil and minimal interruption.

• Child: approximately 2 inches (5 cm), using one or two hands on the lower half of the sternum.
• Infant: approximately 1½ inches (4 cm), using the heel of one hand or two-thumb encircling hands in the 2025 chart.
• Keep pauses under 10 seconds and chest compression fraction at least 60%; avoid leaning.
• Child = age one to puberty; infant = under one, excluding newborns. Puberty and beyond uses the adult/adolescent row.