How to react when a child is choking? Here are the actions to apply urgently

When a person is choking, adult or child, you have to react quickly. And the stages of the intervention are almost the same for everyone, although special attention must be paid to the youngest.

Indeed, not only is the diameter of a child’s trachea very small (identical to the diameter of his little finger), but his body is also more fragile and susceptible to injury during the procedure. In children under 8, asphyxia is the leading cause of cardiac arrestsays Doctor Emmanuelle Seris, spokesperson for the Association of Emergency Physicians of France (AMUF) in The HuffPost. You will have understood it, a maximum alertness is therefore appropriate.

First of all, you should know that a child who is choking can’t answer you (except possibly by gestures). And for good reason, he will not be able to speak, breathe or cough. It will therefore be necessary to react quickly even though he made no sound. However, some signs may be visible: the face may turn blue, the mouth may be open, and the child may bring their hands to their throat. If you spot any of these signs, immediately proceed to first aid.

Steps to take immediately in this situation

Your first reaction should be to start the airway clearance maneuvers. start with lean the child (if more than a year old) forward, holding it with one hand at chest level. With the other hand, give 1 to 5 back pats if the foreign body has not come out in the meantime. For this, the palm of your hand must come and tap firmly between the two shoulder blades of the child. According to the website Early Childhood Professionalsthe purpose of this technique is to “create a reflex cough that will push the foreign body by vibrating the air that is contained in the lungs”. If the object is dislodged, the child catches his breath and coughs, there is no need to give him more pats on the back.

If unsuccessful, proceed to abdominal thrusts, also called “the Heimlich maneuver”. Again, you can apply this technique only if the child is older than one year. Stand behind him and wrap your arms around his abdomen, a fist horizontal, between his navel and the lower end of his sternum. Make 1 to 5 abdominal thrusts going upwards. The movement must represent a comma. The purpose of this gesture is to compress the air contained in the lungs in order to expel the foreign body. If this is ineffective, alternate back blows and abdominal thrusts again until the foreign body is expelled and the child recovers his breath. When the child’s airways are unobstructed, contact an SAMU doctor to obtain medical advice.

If the person becomes unconscious and not breathing, it is cardiac arrest. You have to lay him down on the ground and you have to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation with 30 chest compressions and call 15 quickly.“, said Dr Emmanuelle Seris.

Choking, not to be confused with false road

It is very important to know how to distinguish a wrong way from a choking, because the steps to follow are drastically different. We recognize a wrong way because the child will be able to cough. If your child is coughing, it’s because he’s breathing and he’s in no danger of life… at least if you don’t intervene.

Indeed, in this situation you must encourage your child to cough, because this reflex will allow him to expel the object from the trachea before it enters his lungs. And if in the case of suffocation, it is necessary to begin as soon as possible a clearing of the ways by pats on the back, however, this technique could cause significant damage in the event of a wrong turn. Hitting the back of a coughing child could indeed cause the foreign body to move and cause total obstruction of the airways, the site tells us. Early Childhood Professionals. However, if your child is unable to spit it out on his own and is still coughing after 5 minutes and turning red, seek medical advice as soon as possible. by dialing 15.

In either case, vigilance is essential. And because prevention is better than cure, the golden rule is to be very watchful for signs of choking and wrong way during mealas well as when your children are playing with small objects they might swallow. As a reminder, the diameter of a child’s trachea is identical to that of his little finger, any larger object will therefore be likely to block his airways.

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