In JumpSTART, after opening the airway for a not-breathing child with a pulse, how many rescue breaths are given?

• A. Two rescue breaths
• B. Five rescue breaths
• C. Ten rescue breaths
• D. One rescue breath

Answer: (B)

In JumpSTART, the aim is to rapidly ventilate a child who is not breathing but has a pulse, to quickly determine if ventilation can restore breathing. After you open the airway, you deliver five rescue breaths in succession. Each breath should be about one second and aimed at causing visible chest rise. This quick set of breaths serves to ventilate the lungs and assess whether spontaneous breathing returns. After giving these five breaths, you immediately reassess for breathing and signs of life and then proceed with the next steps of the JumpSTART protocol. The five-breath approach is specific to this pediatric triage/resuscitation method; smaller or larger numbers wouldn’t fit the protocol’s rapid ventilation check.