PALS Essentials
Please purchase the course before starting the lesson.
- Prevention does not require advanced skills, and early intervention can positively impact an emergency situation.
- Keep in mind that the child and infant’s family and their response is influenced by a variety of factors and coping skills.
- Mentally prepare for treating the child or the infant as you approach the scene.
- Assess the appearance, work of breathing, and skin color as you approach any child or infant.
- A child or infant’s general appearance provides an important clue to the severity of illness, alert and interactive children or infants are rarely seriously ill.
- Head bobbing is a sign of respiratory distress in infants.
- A normal pulse oximetry reading does not exclude respiratory distress.
- Infants and young children may become agitated when attempting to apply supplemental oxygen.
- Slowing of normal respiratory rate after a period of respiratory distress can herald respiratory arrest.
- Bradycardia in children is most often due to hypoxia.
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death for infants of one month to one year of age.
- The unexpected death of a child or infant is extremely stressful for the rescuer/provider.
- If a foreign body is suspected, look inside the mouth and airway before suctioning.
- Nasopharyngeal airways are useful for persons having a seizure.
- Do not blindly sweep the airway to avoid pushing a foreign body in further.
- Pull the jaw up into the mask; do not push the mask onto the face when using bag-valve-mask.
- Deliver breaths slowly over one second to avoid gastric distention.