To give chest compressions to your pet during CPR you first want to make sure that you're
both positioned appropriately. Your pet should be on his side, either side is fine. You should
be positioned above him so that when you're giving compressions you can lock your elbows.
You don't want him too close to you because if you have to do compressions this way you'll
lose a lot of strength. Your hand position will be a little bit different depending on
whether or not you have a big or a small animal. For dogs that are about 25 pounds or bigger
you want to put your hands over the widest part of the chest. Generally back a little
bit closer to the spine in the middle of the chest. Right about here for Quinn. You're
going to put one hand on top of the other. Lock your elbows and that's how you're going
to get the compressions. For cats and smaller dogs you want to put your hands over the heart.
To find where the heart would be bend the top leg until you find the point of the elbow.
Where the point of the elbow meets the chest is about where the heart is going to be. That's
where you want to position your hands. One over the other or in very small animals you
can put your thumb and fingers on either side of the chest and squeeze that way. All right,
Quinn. For demonstration purposes I'm going to lay this towel down so that you can see
my stuffed animal a little bit more easily. The basic rules are going to be the same.
Put your hands in position over the heart or the widest part of the chest depending
on the size. Over the animal with elbows locked and compress the chest. Each compression should
be even and should compress the chest by about a half to a third of the width of the chest
making sure that you release completely in between compressions. You're going to want
to give about 100 to 120 compressions per minute which is a lot. It's also very difficult
to get that pace down. Some tricks that you can use is give the compressions to the beat
of one of a couple of songs. One would be "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees or, if you
prefer Queen you can go with "Another One Bites the Dust." Position your hands, lock
your elbows and give compressions as so. If you're by yourself you're going to need to
interrupt compressions after about 30 to give a rescue breath. You're also going to want
to check the pulse at that time to see if it's returned. If not immediately return to
chest compressions. Ideally you're going to have a partner. If you have more than one
rescuer you should be alternating roles. While one person is giving chest compressions without
interruption the other person is giving rescue breaths. One about every six to eight seconds.
Giving chest compressions cab be exhausting. So you will need to switch roles about every
two minutes. These transitions need to be smooth so that we minimize interruptions in
chest compressions. Don't forget to check for a pulse and if you do find that the pulse
has returned you'll need to transport your pet immediately to a veterinary facility.
Chester. Chester. He's not breathing and I can't feel a pulse. Anna, I'm going to need
your help. Can you give him a breath every eight seconds? OK. It's been almost two minutes.
Can you come around and tell me if you feel a pulse? Speaker 2: No pulse. Speaker 1: OK,
I'm starting to get tired. So I'm going to need you to switch out with me. Can you put
your hands over mine? On the count of three. One, two, three, go. We're going to continue
like that until we either get a pulse back or 10 to 20 minutes have gone by.