WARNING: The incident mentioned is fictional; any part of it that seems to be pertaining to a real person was written unintentionally. Reader’s discretion is advised.
“I was just talking on the phone with a client when he suddenly shouted my name. When I found him he was already in purple. I tried giving him a CPR but I couldn’t already hear any heartbeat.
This was the fateful incident which took place at Mary’s house. His son, Josh, 3 years old recently died because of choking after accidentally swallowing a choking hazard (a paper clip). Mary tried to revive him but she wasn’t able to do so. Looking at that situation, we can see that choking hazards are really dangerous to young children like Josh.
In this article today, we will understand well the:
- types of choking hazards
- first-aid treatment when a person accidentally swallows a choking hazard
- why we need to consider buying Flexispot’s Mesh Desk Organizer
So, let us begin the discussion.
The Choking Hazards:
Any parts of the house especially near the kitchen have the choking hazards. Most kids especially the babies aged 6 month-old are the ones who accidentally inhale or swallow these objects or contents. We could not control them from crawling, opening cabinets, holding and putting these hazards in their mouths because they are simply curious on these. What we could so with that is we need to be vigilant with all these choking hazards and other objects that they could shove in or swallow.
In every household, there are items that children accidentally swallow like:
- raw apples: especially the slices with peels. The peels of this fruit are hard. The edges give the dry and piercing feeling on the throat when is accidentally swallowed
- pieces of meat: particularly fish. This food item has the fish bone that is difficult to get rid of; it pierces the inside part of the throat and could cause not just choking but possible bleeding from the mouth
- pieces of bread: especially the white bread; try to observe a piece of bread that is dunked in water or juice, once you scoop it up, you’d notice that the loaves got stuck and is a bit difficult to separate. Same goes when a large piece is swallowed whole by a child, it could really cause choking.
- coins: this is just a piece of metal that is smaller than the mouth but is definitely dangerous when swallowed
- small office items: these are paper clips, staples, pen cap small batteries. These are some of the items that go unnoticeable because of their size but they are the main cause of choking among children
- jewelry: these are shiny items and children get attracted with them- from bracelets to earrings. They are the items that most kids like to put in their mouths
- marbles: these items look fancy because of the design embedded in plus they are shiny like a jewelry piece.
- toy parts: such as eyes of the plush toy, tiny cars and building blocks these parts are the ones easily shoved in the kid’s mouth hence they are very dangerous for them
Should choking take place, one should manage to stay calm and make sure that the child would not get rattled; doing so might cause more
pressure around the throat area, which might lead to pushing down the object which may block the airways.
Ways to Prevent Choking:
For Food:
- Mash food well for the younger kids. They are not good at
chewing well yet so it’s better to make sure that no chunks
- or particles will get stuck on their throats.
- Tell them to practice sitting while eating because choking happens when a person lies down while eating.
- Encourage them to practice chewing their food well. Through this, they will be able to munch and chew their food and leave no big chunks in the mouth making it easier for them to swallow it.
- Avoid giving bottles in bed. Most incidents of choking happen when the baby drinks milk in bed and falls asleep. He has the tendency to draw liquid into his lung and choke.
For the Objects inside the House:
- Keep away the small objects around the house. As we go along, we will discuss how the Mesh Desk Organizer can help you properly store these tiny stuff.
- For toys, always check the toy safety brochure to check the small parts that might be potential choking hazards
According to a report, at least one child in the US dies on every 5 days because of choking and 12,000 are rushed to the hospital because of food-choking injuries. This shows that more children are not being oriented on what to do to prevent choking. Accidents are inevitable though and should one encounter this incident, here are the first aid remedy that you can do to save the child from choking:
Mild Choking:
This happens when a child swallows a coin or small stuff but can still breathe (although with great effort), speak, cry, or cough. You must:
- Encourage them to cough (if it’s still manageable)
- Ask them to spit out the object from their mouth
- Don’t put your fingers in their mouth to try pulling out the object because this may cause severity and might push down the object.
Severe Choking
Try the Back Blows and Abdominal Thrusts:
- Stand Behind them then slightly on the side.
- Support their chest with one hand.
- Lean them forward so their airway will be clear
- Give 5 sharp blows between the shoulder blades using the area around between the hand and wrist.
- If it would not work, do the abdominal thrust
Abdominal Thrust:
This should not be administered to a 1-year old kid or to a pregnant.
- Stand behind the person.
- Place your arm around their waist and bend them forward.
- Clench 1 fist and place it right around the belly button.
- Place one hand on top of your fist and move their belly upward and downward.
- Do this 5 times
If his airway is still blocked, immediately call the emergency hotline and seek help.
After we have discussed the dangers of choking hazards, we’ll talk about how to organize more our place especially the work area with Flexispot’s Mesh Desk Organizer to keep all the potential choking hazards out of your child’s way but let us know more of this Desk Organizer:
Mesh Desk Organizer can:
- make your surrounding clutter-free
- hold as many storage spaces as possible which will let you store paper clips, pens, and other potential choking hazards. It also has drawer organizer that has little partitions which allow you to put all the tiny materials away from your child’s sight
