First aid

If the brain is deprived of oxygen for more than five minutes, brain damage will result causing total physical and mental disabilities. The victim will be reduced to being a “vegetable’’.

Immediate intervention by giving the infant/child who had stopped breathing, two rescue breaths – that is, two puffs of our breath – before spending precious minutes to seek medical help can reduce this risk. The air that we breathe contains 21% oxygen and our body only takes up 25% of this inhaled air. Thus the air we exhale still contains about 16% oxygen which is sufficient to help the victim.
Events that necessitate CPR:

* Injuries
* Suffocation (caused by food, toys, plastic covers)
* Smoke inhalation (due to fire)