Prevention is better than CURE.

No child should die of choking. Yet every day children choke, and every year hundreds die and thousands land in emergency departments. One of every parent’s biggest fears is seeing their child choking. Knowing what to do in this situation could be the difference between life and death for loved ones. But the most important thing is to train yourself and others around you to recognize and respond to choking hazards.

The info in this post is intended for multiple audiences including parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, hotel/food industry, childcare providers, babysitters, youth, primary grade students and all. It would not take lot of your time or resources to learn anti-choking techniques to save someone’s life.

Choking is largely preventable. To help reduce the chances of injury and death from choking, this post focuses on prevention strategies and knowing what to do if choking emergency occurs. Choking on food and small objects is a leading cause of death in children under the age of 5. Adults do choke on food and can die because of that too. It is common that food/eatables are biggest threat we have to deal with.

Kabab, sausages
Nuts and seeds
Whole grapes
Popcorn
Hard or gooey/sticky candy
Chunks of peanut butter or cheese
Raw vegetables such as carrots
Rice cakes; etc.

These days we often see a caution on packing materials and bags that secure them away from babies and young children. There are many other items found in the home that can lodge in a child’s throat and include:

Balloons
Coins
Chewing gum
Marbles and ball
Toys with small parts that can break off
Clothing buttons
Small button type batteries
Pen or marker caps; etc.

What can be done:

Cutting food into small pieces for young children.
Supervising the children at mealtime.
Not allowing children to run or play while eating.
Encouraging not to take sip when something chewing/eating.
Monitoring and educating older children or siblings to prevent them from giving smaller children dangerous foods or small objects.
Avoiding toys with small parts.
Not allowing young children to play with coins and other small objects.

While you can’t predict when an emergency will occur, you can be prepared. In less time than you think, First Aid to Save a Life can give you the vital knowledge and skills you’ll need to respond to a life-threatening situations like choking with confidence.

FATSAL is a training, consultancy and sales company working since 2011 with a mission to train people to prevent injuries/illness and save lives. We strive to make first aid part of everybody’s life. We use best training supplies during our sessions to make learning easy and enhance its retention. For choking we use Act+Fast Medical’s Anti-Choking Trainer (an educational medical device patent in US) to educate participants, parents, teachers, as well as the children themselves, to learn these simple life-saving techniques. Practicing with this product will provide the confidence to react during an emergency and save lives. Use this trainer to teach yourself and everyone you know, and help make the world a little safer.