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Choking Hazards
When curious kids meet the world with their mouths
Diane Peters
Here’s a scary scene: in the middle of a birthday party a toddler suddenly starts choking on a bite of hot dog. In the general panic, no one’s sure whether to try to dislodge it or call 911.
This happens often to toddlers, who don’t fully chew their food and perhaps don’t yet have the molars to grind it up. As well, young children explore the world orally and will pop into their mouths anything from a pin or a coin to a board-game piece. That’s why 62% of all food-choking incidents occur in kids under age three.
Dr. Jeffrey Ludemann, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, and his team remove about one ingested foreign object a week from the airways or gullets of kids. He believes parents need to be better informed about choking hazards. In the U.S., about 160 children die every year from inhaling or ingesting such items (in Canada, it’s likely around 16). Experts estimate that for every death, there are 100 choking-related visits to emergency rooms.
If a child is choking on something, never panic, as the child will sense it, advises Morgan Jones Phillips, a paramedic in Toronto. “The youngster will take deep, panicky breaths, and that could make the item go in even deeper.” If the child is coughing or struggling to breathe, he has a partial airway blockage. Gently bring the child with you to the phone and call 911.
Follow the instructions given. The operator may suggest that you do the Heimlich manoeuvre (also called abdominal thrusts) or simply wait for medical help. But never pound a child on the back. “You’re likely to loosen the thing, causing it to fall in deeper, and you’ll end up with a full obstruction,” Jones Phillips says.
But if a child cannot make noise and is turning blue, her airway is fully blocked. In just a few minutes she could suffer brain damage or die. “If you can safely hang the child upside down, do it in this situation,” says Jones Phillips. It is safe to thump the back of a child in this position, as gravity will help dislodge the object from the airway.
Needless to say, it’s best to prevent foreign objects from going where they shouldn’t in the first place. If they get into the airways, chunky foods such as cheese and meat or round rubbery foods such as hot dogs and grapes can totally obstruct breathing and rapidly kill a child. Always cut these foods lengthwise into quarter sections until children are at least five years of age and able to swallow meat without choking. Wait until children are three years of age and able to swallow toast without choking before serving them nuts, seeds, popcorn and raw foods such as carrots, celery and apples. Children should sit down, eat calmly, chew slowly and avoid talking with their mouths full.
Coins, disc batteries, cut-off corners from plastic milk bags, deflated balloons and marbles are other choking hazards that can easily kill youngsters. Warn older children about these items. Never leave open bowls of coins or packages of seeds or small bulbs within reach of toddlers.
FATAL FOODS
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Top items in choking deaths
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