What are the first aid methods for choking?

Every year during the holidays, the whole family would gather together and set out a large table of wine, meat and delicious food, of course, chicken and fish, which are common foods on the table. But when eating these foods, sometimes, if you are not careful, they will get stuck in your throat and cannot come out, or you will choke and cannot cough it out or swallow it. That feeling is really uncomfortable. What was originally a happy thing ended up in a panic, which is so annoying. It is better to learn some first aid methods yourself. Next, let the editor teach you some methods.

1. Choking, use 3 emergency methods

If parents find that their child is choking, they should not panic. They should call 120 emergency number, give the child first aid immediately, and quickly send the child to a qualified hospital for rescue.

Pat the back

For children who are conscious: they can stand or sit, and the first aider stands behind the child, places one hand on the chest of the child to support the child, and uses the base of the other hand to give 6-8 consecutive and rapid taps on the patient's spine in the scapular area. The tapping should be fast and forceful.

For children who are not fully conscious or have unclear consciousness: the child should be made to curl up with his knees bent, lying on his side facing the first aider, with his head below chest level. The first aider should press his knees and thighs against the child's chest, then pat it quickly and forcefully 6-8 times.

Abdominal push

Place the child on his back on the table, and the parent should overlap his hands and place them between the navel and xiphoid process on his abdomen, applying appropriate pressure close to the abdomen and upward toward the chest. This can increase the pressure in the abdominal and thoracic cavities, generate a strong airflow in the child's lungs, and force the foreign body to rush out of the trachea and reach the mouth with the airflow.

Heidegger Technique

For older children, standing first aid can be used. The parent should stand behind the child and hug the child, with the left fist pressed against the child's abdomen between the navel and xiphoid process, and the right hand pressed on top of the left hand. Both hands should exert force upward and backward to increase the pressure in the abdominal and chest cavities to facilitate the expulsion of foreign objects. If you find that the child's breathing is weak and his face is dark, perform mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration immediately.

2. What should parents do if their baby chokes while eating?

The number one cause of accidental choking in children is bad eating habits and foods such as nuts (such as peanuts, melon seeds, lychees, longans, grapes); hard objects such as buttons and small parts of toys; and some soft and sticky foods such as bread and jelly. Choking on different things requires different ways of dealing with them.

Small hard things

Candies, small toy parts, etc. may cause your baby to choke. Here’s what you should do:

1. Bend one leg, press your knee against the child's heart, face down, and pat the child's back hard.

2. If the baby still cannot spit out the food, hold the baby from behind with head down; press your fist against the baby's heart and squeeze.

3. If you find that you are still having difficulty breathing and your face and body begin to turn purple, please call an ambulance as soon as possible. And give artificial respiration until the ambulance arrives.

Soft and sticky things

Soft and sticky things like rice cakes, soft candies, and even bread can be dangerous for children. When a child chokes, you should do the following:

1. Let your child lie on his side.

2. Ask your child to open his mouth. If you can see something stuck in his throat, use your fingers to pick it out.

3. If you can’t see, you can use your index finger to press hard on the back of the child’s tongue to help the child induce vomiting.

3. TIPS: When do you need a doctor and the golden time for emergency treatment

When do you need a doctor?

If you find your baby has the following symptoms:

1. If your child has difficulty breathing or his face turns blue or purple, please seek medical attention as soon as possible, as a foreign object may have entered the trachea.

2. Severe coughing and gurgling sound in the throat.

3. The child will feel pain when the chest is squeezed. This is most likely due to swallowing a paper clip, glass, or other piece of metal.

Golden emergency time

6 minutes is the golden rescue time for a child who chokes and suffocates. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a race against time. If emergency treatment is started within 1 minute, the chance of survival is 90%. If emergency treatment is started within 5 minutes, the chance of survival is 90%.

If we don’t rescue them, the success rate will drop to 40%-50%. Six minutes of cerebral circulation deprivation may cause permanent damage to the brain and nervous system. Once this happens, parents' first-hand rescue becomes the most important way to save their children's lives.

Precious, even the last chance.

After reading the information provided by the editor, I hope it can be helpful to everyone. However, if accidents can be avoided, try to avoid them. The editor recommends not letting children eat thorny fish or any hard food. Always pay attention to what your children are holding. It is best not to place glass bullets next to children to prevent them from eating them, which may have disastrous consequences.