What to do when your young child chokes

Why is it important to know first aid steps for choking child? Young children are prone to chocking than adults. One minute is all okay and the next minute your baby is choking. To keep our loved ones safe especially children we need to learn first aid for choking.

What is choking?

Chocking is when there is blockage of air passage by a foreign object such as food, making the victim unable to speak, cough or breath. Choking requires immediate action for it can be life-threatening. Choking can be partial or complete.

Partial is when there is some air that passes to the lungs and complete is when there is total obstruction of air from reaching the lungs. Any interruption to the flow of oxygen into the lungs is dangerous and in some scenarios it may lead to death.

First Aid Steps for Choking Child

When a child chokes, you need to do first Aid immediately because if the child becomes unresponsive then the throat muscles relax and the airways are will be completely blocked. If this happens to be ready to give CPR as soon as possible.

Recognition

As we have noted earlier, chocking can happen within seconds, so how do you recognize the choking case.

First, ask the child if he is choking.

If the child can speak, cough and breath then that is a mild obstruction

On the other hand, if the child cannot speak, breath or cough then it is a severe obstruction and hence the child can become unresponsive very soon.

Objectives.

When helping a choking child the following should be your aims,

1. Remove any obstruction to the air passage
2. To arrange urgent removal to a nearby hospital if necessary. This includes calling the paramedics.

Action.

• If the child is breathing, encourage the child to cough. This may clear the obstacle in the air passage, then remove any obvious obstructions from the mouth.
• If the child cannot speak, cough or breath carry out back blows. Bend the child forward and give the child up to five blows between the shoulder blends using the heel of your hand. Check her mouth for any obvious obstructions but do not sweep the month with your finger.
  

  Giving back blows to a choking child

• If the back blows do not clear the obstruction, try abdominal thrusts. Put your arms around the Child’s upper abdomen make sure that the child is bent forward.
• Then place your fist between the navel and the bottom of her breastbone, and grasp it with your other hand. Pull sharply inwards and upwards up to five times. Stop when the obstruction clears.
• After giving the back blows and abdominal trust, if the obstruction has not cleared call emergency for help.
• Keep repeating the procedure and checking the
  

  Giving Abdominal thrust for a choking child.

  mouth until the emergency arrives.

Caution

If the child becomes unresponsive, open the airways and check for breathing, if the child is not breathing start CPR to try and relieve the obstruction.

As safety for our children is paramount to our happiness, it is advisable to ensure that you or the caregivers are equipped with the necessary first aid skills necessary to handle such emergencies.

At Medswift, we offer first aid training for caregivers (pediatric first aid) as well as basic first aid training. In addition to that, we sell first aid kits that are fully customized for homes, schools and even cars. We are your one-stop-shop for all your safety needs. The Best First Aid, Fire Safety and OSH Trainers in Kenya.