How much head tilt to use when performing CPR is quite important.
From my experience I have found that CPR instruction is much better understood if you take a little bit of extra time to explain why particular techniques are used. Over the years we have seen quite a lot of changes and people get frustrated. The latest changes make CPR so much easier to remember which is comforting to a lot of people.
I have decided to drip feed little snippets of CPR through these pages in the hope that it will become more clear and easy to perform and today head tilting gets the nod.
No head tilt for an infant.
The head of an infant under the age of 12 months makes up roughly 18 percent of its body. To keep the infants airway open it needs to lay in the "sniffing" position when performing CPR. This means that the nose is the highest point therefore no head tilt. Just place your hand gently at the back of the infants head while you perform the rescue breathing.
Slight head tilt for age group 1 yr to 8 yrs
The head in this age group makes up about 14 percent of the child's body so a slight head tilt is all that is required when performing CPR.
Full head tilt for 9 years of age and above
The head now makes up about 9% of the body so for effective CPR a full head tilt is necessary. The best way to achieve this is to tilt the head back by placing the hand on the forehead and using a pistol grip to help tilt the head. One of the main reasons why people have difficulty in getting air in is because of insufficient head tilt in an adult. It is harder to achieve this by using the older style of holding the nose.
To block the nose you tilt your own head so you can see the chest and place your cheek against the nostrils.
Watch this space for the reasons we need to use a pistol grip for effective CPR
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