Why Take an Infant CPR class?

From an interview with Geoff Gohacki, instructor & co-owner of Common Sense CPR

“When is it too late to take an Infant CPR class?” people often ask. In reality, it’s only too late if you have had to use CPR before you ever made it to the class. Otherwise, you are right on time. If you are wondering whether taking a CPR class is really important, or that you missed the opportunity, we say – Take the infant CPR class before it is truly too late.

When should you take an infant CPR class? 

Based on our extensive experience teaching Infant and Child CPR_, most students in our classes are either expectant parents or babies with infants around 6 months old. 

It is preferable to take infant CPR before the baby is born so you are ready for the unthinkable from day 1. Unfortunately, most people get caught up in life and the chaos of new parenthood and do not actually make it to a class until they have a baby. If that’s you, that’s ok! Take a class now. It is certainly not too late to do it after your baby is born but the life-saving skills you learn in class could be useful from the moment your baby is born.

Why is it important for parents to know CPR? 

It’s important to know CPR so that you have the skills and know-how to respond to a breathing or choking emergency or a situation where your baby is unresponsive. For the first five or so months of a baby’s life, they are pretty much limited to being either held by a parent or caregiver or sleeping. Although there are dangers involved in this early period, the real “fun” begins at about month number six when a child often discovers his/her fingers and how to use them, which results in the child holding objects and subsequently putting them into – you guessed it – the mouth.

Parents also typically start introducing solid foods to their children between 6-12 months which creates opportunities for choking.  Choking is a major concern for every parent and preparing for an accident provides comfort to new parents who may be facing this situation. Fortunately, choking incidents are usually very easy to remedy if you know what to do. 

A CPR class also helps parents and caregivers to know that if CPR is started in the first 2 minutes of an infant or child becoming unconscious or unresponsive there is approximately an 85% chance of successfully resuscitating your baby. Those are pretty good odds!

What is being taught in an infant CPR class? 

Our CPR class covers breathing emergencies, how to remedy a choking situation, car seat safety, and more. We use the approach of building the steps in clearing and resuscitation in order to empower parents and caregivers in how to treat a choking incident. We also focus on remedying most types of respiratory distress in infants. In most choking events, the object can be removed using the techniques taught in the class. In the unlikely event that the item cannot be cleared, CPR is the next step and our class will prepare you to be able to confidently perform infant CPR.

Taking an infant CPR class can truly be a lifesaver. Undergoing this training means that you will feel prepared in case of an emergency. You could save your baby’s life.  

Geoff has been a professional chef and teacher for over 15 years and first became interested in emergency response after performing first aid on one of his students. Geoff has two young boys who like to live on the wild side. Because of this, Geoff has focused on child safety and responding to emergencies involving children. A student before a teacher, Geoff is constantly researching and learning the newest techniques in CPR, AED, First Aid, and Child Passenger Safety. Geoff is an American Heart Association BLS Instructor and an American Red Cross.