How to do infant CPR
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Infant CPR uses smaller compressions and covers the mouth and nose for breaths.
Step by step
Check
Tap the foot, shout; look for breathing and feel the brachial pulse for no more than 10 seconds. [1]
Call
If alone and the collapse was not witnessed, do 2 minutes of CPR before leaving to call. [1]
Compressions
Two fingers or two thumbs encircling, center of the chest just below the nipple line, about 1.5 inches (4 cm), 100 to 120 per minute. [1]
Breaths
Cover mouth and nose, small breaths to make the chest rise. [1]
Ratio
30:2 for one rescuer, 15:2 for two. [1]
AED
Pediatric pads or dose attenuator if available; adult pads if not. [1]
Common errors
- Too deep or too shallow.
- Large breaths.
- Long pauses.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation
- Post-cardiac arrest care
- Cardiac arrest with a DNR order
- Traumatic cardiac arrest
- BRUE in an infant
- Bronchiolitis in an infant
17 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC
- NASEMSO National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines
- NREMT psychomotor skill sheets (EMT and Paramedic)
Facts and steps follow AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC; NASEMSO National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines; NREMT psychomotor skill sheets (EMT and Paramedic). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.