Kaplan Diagnostic A Practice Test

When a four-month-old stops breathing, the first priority is to restore ventilation. The nurse should open the airway and deliver rescue breaths to re-expand the lungs, watching for chest rise with each breath. In an infant, this rescue-breath step is typically done by mouth-to-mouth (or mouth-to-mouth with a barrier if available), delivering two breaths of about one second each. Avoid hyperextending the neck, since infants are best kept with a neutral head position to keep the airway open. Chest compressions are not started until there is no pulse; when they are needed, compressions for an infant are performed with two fingers on the center of the chest, not with the palm of the hand. Palpating the carotid pulse is not the correct first action in this age group; the initial focus is on breathing and airway, not pulse checks. So the recommended first intervention is providing rescue breaths to ventilate the infant.