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Before we get into the differences between how to conduct CPR on an adult, child, and infant, let’s first review what CPR is: it stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and it’s a manual way for you to keep a cardiac arrest’s victim’s heart and lungs working. In essence, it’s like life support that you can perform with your hands.

But adults, children, and infants have different body types, so while the overall CPR technique is essentially the same on all three, there are minor variations that we need to remember in order to ensure the best outcome. And since the outcome that we’re referring to here is the saving of a life, it’s good to remember this.

Response time

If you’re the only person on the scene, then it’s even more important to respond immediately to a child or infant who goes into cardiac arrest with CPR, even if it means waiting a few minutes to call an ambulance. Children and infants respond better to CPR than adults, especially if you start the CPR immediately.

Head position

On an adult, it’s important to tilt the victim’s head back to open up the airway fully. On a child and infant, tilting the head back too far will actually close off the airway. So only tilt a child or infant’s head back into a “sniffer’s position.” This means to tilt the head back to the point that it looks like the child or infantis sniffing.

Where to check for pulse

On infants, check their pulse on the brachial artery located inside the upper arm. On children and adults, check the pulse at the carotid artery located on the neck.

Chest compressions

When compressing the chest of an adult (to the rhythm of “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees, about 100 compressions per minute) use the heel of both hands. On a child, use only the heel of one hand and on an infant, compress with only two fingers of one hand.

The instructions on this post will help you in an emergency, but please don’t consider them a replacement for actual CPR training. Please check our schedule for more information on First Aid and CPR classes,