BLS Algorithm Flashcard 3

C. Rationale: The brachial artery is used for pulse checks in infants. The brachial artery is located midway between the shoulder and the elbow. It can be found by palpating the mid-upper arm just medial to the biceps.

C. Rationale: It is challenging, even for trained rescuers, to determine the presence of a pulse in infants that are in distress or children who are seriously ill. The best location to assess the pulse in these patients is in the brachial artery. For older children, the carotid or femoral arteries are excellent locations to check the pulse.

A. Rationale: The American Heart Association pediatric cardiac life support algorithm suggests giving positive pressure ventilations during CPR at a rate of one breath every 2 to 3 seconds or 20 to 30 breaths per minute.

C. Rationale: Full chest recoil allows for a significant amount of negative thoracic pressure, which causes blood to flow into the heart. Incomplete chest recoil restricts blood flow into the heart. High-quality chest compressions occur when the rescuer pushes hard and maintains a compression depth of 1/3 the anterior-posterior diameter of the pediatric patient (roughly 2 inches for older children). The rescuer maintains a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute and allows full chest recoil after each compression.

A. Rationale: The two-finger technique and the two-thumbs encircling hand techniques are suitable for the small chest diameters of infants less than 1 year of age. A single rescuer should use the two-finger technique as it allows for quicker transition from compressions to breaths. The two-thumbs technique is preferred when two rescuers are present as it allows for more effective compressions.

B. Rationale: Opening the airway via the jaw-thrust or head tilt-chin lift maneuvers is required to give effective ventilations. These two procedures are noninvasive techniques to achieve airway patency. The jaw-thrust method is used for trauma patients with suspected fractures of the cervical vertebrae.

C. Rationale: Minimize interruptions in chest compressions. Chest compression fraction should be at 60% or more for efficient CPR. The compression rate must be 100 to 120 per minute with a compression depth of 1/3 the anterior-posterior diameter of the patient’s chest or 2 inches in children 8 years old and above. Rescuers should be sure to allow full chest recoil after each compression and utilize an AED as soon as it arrives.

B. Rationale: Studies have shown that rescuers have difficulty detecting the pulse in patients who are in distress, especially infants and children. Therefore, if the rescuer does not recognize a pulse within 10 seconds, the recommendation is to immediately start CPR with high-quality chest compressions in case the patient is in cardiac arrest or has compromised cardiac output. In this situation, the heart needs to be reperfused, and the only way to do this is to perform chest compressions.

B. Rationale: It is recommended that chest compressions be given at a depth of 2 inches if the patient has reached puberty.

A. Rationale: Following the American Heart Association BLS guidelines, when there is no normal breathing, but the patient has a pulse, the rescuer provides rescue breathing every 2 to 3 seconds or about 20 to 30 breaths per minute. The patient is then checked for a pulse and spontaneous breathing after 2 minutes. When the heart rate decreases to < 60 bpm, the rescuer begins conventional CPR.