Saudi Gazette Your family may be sitting at the dining table eating dinner when suddenly a piece of food gets stuck in your child's throat and he starts to cough and choke. You panic and try different techniques to help your child, but what should you really do when your child chokes? Two-year-old Abdullah choked on a piece of meat that he could not swallow and gasped for air. Amid terrified yelps from those around him, Abdullah's father rushed to him and thrust his finger in his son's mouth to search for the piece of food but failed to find it. Within seconds, Abdullah's mother struck him on the back between his two shoulder blades at rapid intervals. After a few minutes the piece of meat responsible for the entire ordeal was safely flung out of Abdullah's mouth. Several weeks after the frightening incident, Abdullah's father said, “Our son Abdullah now refuses to eat any meat after what happened. I felt horrible at the thought of my son dying in front of my own eyes and at my own lack of knowledge to save him. I later learned that what I tried to do was wrong and not helpful at all. It was his mother who knew what to do because she had watched an awareness program that explained how to correctly rescue a choking child without the use of excessive force.” The Red Crescent paramedic and first-aid trainer, Saad Hamed Al-Hejaili, regularly organizes workshops in shopping centers in Al-Madinah to educate the public in how to deal with choking hazards. “Choking can sometimes be very dangerous and even fatal if not dealt within four to six minutes. When an object is lodged in the child's trachea or windpipe, it prevents air from flowing normally into or out of the lungs, so the child is unable to breathe properly. If airflow into and out of the lungs is blocked, and the brain and heart are deprived of oxygen, choking can become a life-threatening emergency and can lead to death,” said Al-Hejaili. Unfortunately, babies and young children are extremely curious and attracted to small objects which pose choking hazards, and their favorite way to play with a newly discovered item is to put them in their mouths. Al-Hejaili teaches parents what to do if an infant under one year of age chokes. He explained, “To rescue a choking baby, you need to act calmly and quickly. Flip the baby on his stomach and lay him along the length of your arm vertically facing downwards. His head should be at the bottom of your arm as your free hand strikes him on the back five times, between the shoulder blades. “This helps expel the foreign object from the baby's throat. Never poke a finger inside a chocking child's mouth because this can push the foreign object further inside the windpipe and obstruct the airway even more.” If the victim is an older child, he/she should be directed to either stand or sit up on the knees so the rescuer can apply the Heimlich maneuver. “Place your arms around the choking child's abdomen and alternate an abdominal thrust right above the belly button with a short period of relaxation; repeat five times. The thrust should be directed upwards toward the chest and should be gentle but strong enough to create a sudden burst of air from the diaphragm that will force the foreign object upwards and send it flying out of the mouth,” added Al-Hejaili. If the food or toy has only partially blocked the child's trachea and she is able to breathe and talk, it may be best to avoid intervening because coughing will most likely push the object upwards and normal breathing will be restored. The child may need help if he/she is unable to breathe, gasping or wheezing, crying or making noise, turning blue, grabbing his/her throat or waving arms. There are quite a number of foods that should not be given to children under the age of four according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, such as,nuts and seeds, chunks of meat or cheese, whole grapes, hard, gooey, or sticky candies (especially marshmallows), popcorns, raw vegetables and fruits, chewing gum, etc. __
