Infant Choking Deaths And Injuries Are Preventable! ~ Medswift

DID YOU KNOW?

Infant Choking is a leading cause of unintentional death in children under the age of 5.
Children under age 5 are at the greatest risk for choking injury and death.
Toys, household items and foods can all be a choking hazard.
The most common cause of nonfatal choking in young children is food.
At least one child dies from choking on food every 10 days, and hundreds of children are taken to a hospital emergency rooms each year for food-choking injuries.
Toy manufacturers label toys for choking hazards and some food manufacturers voluntarily label food products as posing a potential choking risk; however, any food can present a choking risk.
Education regarding choking risks, precautions to take in avoiding these risks, and known life saving procedures are necessary to eliminate senseless and tragic injuries and deaths caused by choking.
Pediatricians, family practice physicians, health care workers, parents, grandparents, day care workers, school personnel, older children, siblings, babysitters and communities as a whole play a key role in the prevention of injuries and need to share information with caregivers to identify potential choking hazards.
The size of a young child’s trachea (windpipe) or breathing tube is approximately the size of a drinking straw in diameter. Imagine a piece of popcorn being lodged in this small area!

REMEMBER! You can be the difference a life saved and a life lost!

Educate caregivers and the community about choking hazards and precautions to take to prevent choking.
Become familiar with life-saving techniques such as child cardiopulmonary resuscitation( C.P.R), abdominal and chest thrusts, Automated External Defibrillators (AED) or calling for an ambulance.
Sign up for our regular scheduled Pediatric first aid classes for a chance to acquire life saving skills that could save a child’s life when it matters the most

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