Thursday, March 21, 2013

Restore Breathing

Knowing restore breathing is a helpful piece of knowledge when going through life. You never know when a family member, friend or even a stranger may need you to literally breathe the life back into them. In addition to the personal benefits from knowing restore someone's breathing, most caretaker jobs require that you have this knowledge. As long as you are able to stay calm and follow the steps in the correct order, you could save someone's life some day.


Instructions


1. Call for help immediately and then make sure the injured person is on their back and if possible on a hard surface. If you have to roll them, kneel on one side and carefully roll them over, keeping their head in alignment with their body.


2. Open the person's airway. Kneel at their shoulder level and gently but firmly push their forehead back with one hand while raising their chin with the other. If neck or back injury is suspected kneel at the top of their head instead. Then use both hands, with elbows on the ground, to grip the jaw at its angles and push it forward and up. Make sure to constantly maintain these positions for an open airway.


3. Clear out any visible obstructions such as vomit or any other foreign material. Do not spend a long time on this task.


4. Look for any signs of breathing after you have opened the airway. Breathing should resume after three to five seconds. Signs include the chest rising and falling, hearing air escape during exhalation and feeling it on your cheek if you put it close to the person's mouth.


5. Start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation if breathing does not begin. Place your hand on the injured person's forehead and pinch his nose. Use this hand also to keep the head tilted back. Place the other hand under the chin to support it.








6. Take a deep breath and breathe two full breaths quickly and forcefully into the injured person's mouth, watching for his chest to rise. If it does, then you are performing this method correctly. Listen for a return of respiration.


7. Continue mouth-to-mouth if there is no return of breath. Repeat the above steps giving the injured person a one second breath for every five seconds. Feel for a pulse after the twelfth breath, and check for breathing. If it does not return, continue mouth-to-mouth until breathing comes back.

Tags: injured person, breathing does, five seconds, person mouth, roll them, their head