Choking occurs when a foreign body blocks the throat or windpipe, which stops the flow of air to the lungs. Adults may choke on pieces of food. Young children may choke on small objects, such as toys or Lego pieces. Because choking leads to a cut off of oxygen to the brain, it must be dealt with. quickly, otherwise it will lead to death.
Signs of suffocation:
- Inability to speak.
- Difficulty breathing, or the presence of a breath sound, which indicates that an object is stuck in the airways.
- Inability to cough.
- Blue skin, lips, or nails, or turn them into a dark color.
- Unconsciousness .
Heimlich maneuver:
To save the choking person, the Heimlich maneuver must be performed immediately, in order to expel the foreign body blocking the trachea.
The Heimlich maneuver causes an artificial cough by pushing the diaphragm towards the lungs, which leads to the expulsion of the foreign body, and is done by directing pressure on the abdomen above the navel area inward and upward, and a person must call an ambulance immediately, while you perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Steps to perform the Heimlich maneuver: - Stand behind the person.
- Wrap your arms around his waist.
- Curl one of your hands in the form of a fist, and place it on the person’s stomach above the navel, with the thumb pointing inwards, i.e. backwards.
- Hold your fist with your other hand until you secure it.
- Give five strong thrusts inwards and upwards, as if you were trying to lift the person up. Repeat this procedure until the foreign body comes out.
- Performing the Heimlich maneuver on a pregnant woman or an obese person:
The presence of the child in the belly of the pregnant woman prevents pressure above the navel. As for the obese person, it may be difficult to surround his stomach with your arms in the navel area, thus applying sufficient pressure to remove the foreign body. Therefore, in both cases, the fist must be placed above the abdomen below the rib cage, and then pressure is applied as in the instructions. previous.
Perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself:
If you are suffocated and you are alone, you can perform the maneuver on your own, direct your body towards the back of a chair, towards a railing, a fence, or a table, and lean your stomach above the navel at this angle, then push yourself towards it until the foreign body comes out. You can also curl your fist and place it above the navel and lean against it The back of a chair, toward a railing, railing, or table, and push yourself against it.
But if you are alone and there is nothing around you that you can lean on and push your stomach towards, then cork your fist and place it slightly above the navel, then place the other hand above your fist and apply strong pressures inwards and upwards until the foreign body comes out. - Performing the Heimlich maneuver on an infant:
- Place the infant with its face facing down along your forearm, with this forearm resting on your thigh, with your hand fixing the infant’s head. Direct four blows of moderate force to the infant’s back with the heel of your other hand, and this procedure should be repeated until the foreign body comes out.
- If the first method does not work, turn the infant’s body to its normal position, then use the index and middle fingers of one of your hands, placing them one finger-width apart below an imaginary line that connects the nipples of the infant’s breasts, then make four strong pushes towards the infant’s chest to a depth of 2.5 centimeters in Each batch, repeat this procedure until the foreign body comes out.
If you did not succeed in removing the foreign body and the person lost consciousness, start cardiopulmonary resuscitation and wait for the ambulance.
Prevention of suffocation: - Do not eat and talk at the same time.
- Stay away from hard food and hard sweets, as they are usually rich in sugar and hurt the teeth.
- When you eat sausage, be careful, as your lack of attention and failure to cut and chew the sausage properly may lead to suffocation, and some data indicate that suffocation with sausage is the most suffocating cause of death.
- Never give a nursing child vegetables and fruits to eat, even if they are cut into small pieces.
- Even if the infant has teeth, he cannot deal with solid food like an adult. Therefore, vegetables and fruits must be mashed before feeding them to him. As for meat, it must be minced very finely.
- Do not give the child biscuits, as they may break in the mouth and lead to suffocation. This also applies to the types of biscuits intended for children. The correct way to eat them is to moisten them with milk or water and feed them to the child with a spoon.
- Keep small toys away from children. This includes Lego and toys that can be disassembled and installed, in addition to simulation games such as kitchen utensils and plastic dolls that come with very small pieces, such as doll shoes, that the child may choke on.
- Do not allow your child to eat, talk, play, or move at the same time.
- Don’t eat bones, this applies to chicken cartilage, red meat and sternum, and don’t teach your children this habit either. Bones are a common cause of suffocation.
