Families For Life | Choking - First Aid - Toddlers

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471478278_Choking_First_Aid

Choking is one of the four most common infant acute emergencies, besides burns, accidental drowning and swallowing of poisonous liquids.

Look out for three vital signs in a children's emergency:

The infant’s appearance, skin colour and breathing effort are indicators of the severity of the condition.

Get emergency help if you notice:

  • White, pale or mottled skin

  • Vacant, glassy-eyed stare

  • Listlessness and no response to stimuli such as the mother’s voice

  • Laborious breathing noises (e.g., grunting, wheezing or high-pitched whistling sounds)

  • Flared nostrils (shows that infant is trying very hard to breathe)

Choking can cause infant death if the trachea or windpipe is completely blocked.

What to do:

  • If the child is able to breathe and is coughing, let him cough the object out.

  • If the object is visible, remove it by scooping it out using a single finger. Do not attempt to remove it if you can’t visualise it. Blind sweep may cause object to lodge further inwards.

  • If the child is unable to talk or breathe normally, try dislodging the object from the trachea by doing the Heimlich manoeuvre – slapping five times between the infant’s shoulders (making sure the infant is facing downwards).

  • If the child shows no response, perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and call 995 for an ambulance.

Contributed by: HealthXChange