Using an AED on a Child or Infant

Some AED’s will have paediatric pads which reduces the size of the shock delivered.

If you have an AED available within your working environment you should familiarise yourself with the device and ensure you have been taught in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines.

If you do not have paediatric pads available you can still use the adult pads. Do not follow the diagram placement, instead place one pad on the centre of the child’s chest and the other in the centre on the back. Make sure both pads are vertical. 

The image below shows the Paediatric pad placement used by the majority of AED manufacturers.

Important: According to the Resuscitation Council (UK), although there is limited evidence of using defibrillators on infants under the age of one, they recommend that it’s better to use a defibrillator on a non-breathing infant/baby than not.

You can read more about it here (Questions 8);

https://www.resus.org.uk/home/faqs/faqs-basic-life-support-cpr