Choking Infants And Children | What To Do In An Emergency

Choking Infants and Children

An experienced Personal Injury Lawyer can inform you of your rights if you or someone you know has had a choking injury or death. In the first year of life, babies are very busy exploring their new world. Seeing, touching, hearing, smelling and tasting are all productive, healthy and exciting ways that babies show interest in their environment. Household hazards are everywhere for infants and toddlers. The job of parenting never stops and one of the most important parts of that job is preparing a safe space for children to investigate and discover.

Among the many dangers lurking in a home are choking hazards. Choking is one of the leading causes of unintentional death for infants. Some common household choking risks are:

• Button batteries
• Small toys or game parts
• Round, hard foods
• Coins
• Buttons
• Office supplies

Prevention is the key to keeping children safe from choking accidents and fatalities in the home. Some top safety tips for safeguarding your little ones include:

• Always supervise babies and infants when they are eating.
• Avoid hard, round foods like popcorn, hard candies and nuts.
• Keep infants and toddlers away from small toy pieces belonging to older children.
• Get down on the ground and take inventory of your home from their eye level.
• Make sure all batteries are contained and not accessible.

In the event of an emergency situation, being prepared to perform a rescue procedure can mean the difference between life and death for your child. Since children require a different procedure than adults, it is important that every parent in the household get certified in a CPR program which includes infant CPR training. Though the following steps do not suffice as CPR training, everyone should know the basic steps for the Heimlich Maneuver on an infant.

According to the National Safety Council, clear the airway, and do the following only if the infant cannot cry, cough or breathe:

• Support the infant face down by holding the head in one hand with the torso on your forearm against your thigh
• Give up to five back slaps between the shoulder blades with the heel of your other hand
• If the object is not expelled, roll the infant face up, supporting the back of the infant’s head with your hand
• Place two fingers on the breastbone just below the nipple line
• Give five chest thrusts about one per second about 1 ½ inches deep
• Continue cycles of five back slaps and five chest thrusts until the object is expelled or the infant becomes unresponsive
• If the infant becomes unresponsive or is found unresponsive, begin CPR.

If you or someone you know has suffered a personal injury from choking, contact The Personal Injury Department at The Law Offices of Young Wooldridge, LLP. A personal injury lawyer at The Law Offices of Young Wooldridge, LLP can inform you of legal options you may not know you have.