Choking is a danger for all ages
Feb 02 '05
The Bottom Line Please be informed, this could happen to you or a loved one.
Would you know what to do if someone was choking? What if it was your child? Unfortunately, I had to take a crash course of the Heimlich Maneuver when my son was choking yesterday afternoon.
It was a typical day, both of my sons were already home from school playing (and arguing) and I was making dinner. All the sudden I heard a coughing sound and my youngest son, who is 6, comes running in coughing and making a gasping sound, holding his throat. Never having to deal with something like this (just lucky I guess), I freaked, I didn't immediately know what to do and then it just clicked. I immediately grabbed him around the waist from behind, clasped my hands below his ribs and then began making upward thrusting motions, like you see on TV. After what seemed like an eternity to me, but actually less than a minute, a little shiny ball from his Magnetix set popped out onto the floor. He was okay, he wasn't choking anymore. He was very clingy, didn't want to eat, got tired and just wanted to lay down with me and I was just shaky from the whole incident.
A quick call to the doctors office said he should be ok, just keep an eye on him and if anything changes, take him to the ER. About an hour later, he threw up, not wanting to take any chances, off he went to the ER. He checked out fine and we were told that it may take a while to get over the trauma of the event, but he should be fine.
He was very clingy again this morning, so as a precaution I kept him home from school, he's mainly been laying down and watching TV, with a little break to play a game or two on the computer. He's drinking fine and will eat yogurt (because you can't choke on that - his words), but is definitely not ready for anything else right now. I know it will take a few days before he feels more comfortable about eating regular foods again and not being afraid of choking.
He has since asked us to throw away his Magnetix sets, so we'll just pick them up and put them somewhere until he is ready to play with them again. Small toys still pose a choking danger to any child that puts things in their mouth, not just under the age of three. Luckily he is fine, it could have turned out so different.
I looked up the Heimlich Maneuver on the Internet and found that I did do it right. If you haven't or don't want to take a class, look at this site and these tips so you will know what to do if this happens to you or someone you love.
Here are the steps I found at http://www.heimlichinstitute.org
*From behind, wrap your arms around the victim's waist.
*Make a fist and place the thumb side of your fist against the victim's upper abdomen, below the ribcage and above the navel.
*Grasp your fist with your other hand and press into their upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust. Do not squeeze the ribcage; confine the force of the thrust to your hands.
*Repeat until object is expelled
Please, at least, read these steps. I hope no parent ever has to go through what we did, but by reading these steps or visiting the site, it can give you the knowledge of what to do if you're ever in that type of situation.
© 2005 Kittyokc
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