Dr. Paul Pepe, professor of surgery and chairman of emergency medicine (EM) at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, answers some common questions about CPR.

What is the most common mistake a parent makes when their child starts choking?
Not knowing what to do – not being trained and not being prepared ahead of time. But when a young infant chokes, if they're conscious, we actually want the parent to call for help.

Another mistake is trying to stick your fingers down and take out whatever needs to be removed. Sometimes this pushes it down farther. If there is choking and the child is moving some air – it's partially obstructed – unless you can see it right there at the end of the mouth and can pull it out, reaching down to try and get something out with your fingers can actually sometimes make it worse by impacting the item more into the throat. The general advice is that unless it's clearly obvious – it's something you can remove at the edge of the mouth – the best thing to do is call 911 or whomever you have in your local area to get help on the way.

If the child becomes unconscious, or is lifeless and not responding or breathing, that is the time to do CPR. It turns out that the classic CPR we do today, which is grabbing your hands around and with your thumbs in the middle of the chest squeezing on the whole chest, actually will do more to pop it out than most of the other procedures done in the past. In other words, don't do those back slaps or Heimlich on the kids. Doing a journal CPR procedure is the key thing to do.

If I'm alone and don't know CPR and my child begins to choke, what should I do?
If a parent is alone and they don't know CPR, call 911. Most places today have EMD or emergency medical dispatch operations. The dispatchers have instructions that they can read over the telephone. But the bottom-line for everyone is to take courses and learn CPR.

Can a baby be injured if CPR is performed incorrectly on them?
Although theoretically you would think a baby could be injured, surprisingly, studies have shown little evidence that injury occurs through CPR on these ages of children (0 to 36 months). More important, even if there were any injuries that occur, in that situation where CPR is needed and it's life and death, there's no question that the trade off between an injury and a life being saved is well worthwhile.

Where and when should I take CPR?
Most hospitals will offer the course before the birth of your baby, or you can call the American Red Cross. The best time to learn CPR is yesterday. We generally recommend a refresher course because we've recently changed the guidelines, although minimally, but it's so easy to learn it's always easy to go back. Data has shown that in cases of drowning, 80 percent of children can be resuscitated if CPR is started right away, and the children are neurologically intact. I'd rather give my child an 80 percent chance of making it rather than a 60 percent chance. But most important, take that first course; it'll show you what to do.