Choking First Aid Advice To Save A Child’s life

What First Aid Should I Do For A Child Choking

Watching a child choking on a small object is a terrifying feeling for anyone to experience. Knowing how to remove the blockage in a child choking could be the difference between saving a life and a needless fatality. At First Aid Course Experts, we strive to provide the most up-to-date, nationally accredited First Aid training courses in Australia that will qualify you to spring into action and provide First Aid in any situation.

How Do I Remove The Item Choking The Child

The first step is to take a deep breath and calm yourself down. You will want to react instinctively, and many people panic and do the wrong things or attempt to do something they saw on an American TV medical drama called the Heimlich Manoeuvre. In Australia they prefer the use of the 5 and 5 technique, slightly different from the Heimlich Manoeuvre practised outside of Australia. Both work in an emergency situation. The second step is to purchase the ultimate life saving device for choking infants, children, and adults, called LIFE VAC, and keep one in each of your First Aid kits. There are now multiple versions of the original device on the market; a Google search will have one in your budget range. Below video gives a brief demonstration of how the device works. For clarification:

• A newborn is under one month old.
• A toddler is over one year (1) but younger than four years old.
• A child is four or more years old up until the teenage years.

In lieu of having a choking device on hand, the following procedure called the 5 and 5 is recommended in Australia. Watch this Australian Video on how to treat a choking baby correctly.

If the child choking is older than one (1):

Keep calm and encourage them to cough as hard as they can to dislodge the blockage if they are able to cough and old enough to understand the instruction. Stand behind them with your hand in the middle of their back and give 5 sharp back blows to the middle of the upper back between the shoulder blades. Next, give 5 abdominal /chest thrusts if the back blows have not dislodged the object. Position your fist slightly above the child’s navel to give chest thrusts. Grasp the fist with the other hand. Press hard into the abdomen with a quick, upward thrust — as if trying to lift the person. DO NOT PUNCH THE CHILD CHOKING! The fist should always remain in contact with the body by pressing firmly and pushing in and upwards suddenly in unison as if to make them stand on tiptoes. If that is unsuccessful, return to the back blows and alternate until the blockage is removed. If they lose consciousness, then be ready to give chest-only CPR. Have someone call for an ambulance if the blockage is not removed quickly, as Chest Compression only CPR will be required until the blockage can be removed and the airway is clear.

How To Stop Choking Babies In-depth Technique

1. To clear the airway of a choking infant younger than age one (1):
2. Assume a seated position and hold the infant face down on your forearm, resting on your thigh. Support the infant’s head and neck with your hand and place the head lower than the trunk.
3. Thump the infant gently but firmly five times on the middle of the back using the heel of your hand. The combination of gravity and the back blows should release the foreign body blocking the airway. Keep your fingers pointed up to avoid hitting the infant in the back of the head.
4. Turn the infant face up on your forearm, resting on your thigh with the head lower than the body if the infant still isn’t breathing. Give five quick chest compressions using two fingers placed at the centre of the infant’s breastbone. Press down about 1 1/2 inches, and let the chest rise again between each compression.
5. Repeat the back blows and chest thrusts if breathing doesn’t resume. Call 000 for emergency medical help.
6. Begin infant CPR if one of these techniques removes the object that completely blocks the airway, but the infant doesn’t resume breathing and begins turning pale or blue.
7. If the child is older than age one (1) and conscious, give abdominal thrusts only. Be careful not to use too much force to avoid damaging ribs or internal organs.

Consider Taking A First Aid Course

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