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Here Are The Actions To Take To Save The Life Of A Baby Who Chokes

Here Are The Actions To Take To Save The Life Of A Baby Who Chokes

Young children are more likely to choke on food or foreign bodies than adults. This is because children like to put everything in their mouths. They are curious, explore the world and thirsty (or even hungry) to learn. Discover the actions to adopt in the event of a false route.

There are 300 to 400 deaths in France, part of which is related to suffocation either by the sudden death of the infant or accidentally (escapes of carriage, poor position in the arms obstructing the airways, ...). The unexpected Death of the Infant (MIN) is however preventable in 50% of the cases by adopting preventive gestures like the release of the bed of any bedstead or fluff (one is enough). Dr. Afanetti, head of the MIN Reference Center in the Paca East region, is a specialist in the subject. It states that babies should sleep on their backs and not be congested. It is also not necessary to add a mattress in the cot because babies need less thickness given their featherweight.

L'Assurance Maladie recalls that 80% of choking occurs in children under 3 years old.

Cases symptoms of choking in an infant
Being more vulnerable, infants express their respiratory difficulty less than a child or an adult. If you have any doubt or if you notice the following symptoms, react quickly:
  • A general pallor with bluish ends,
  • An absence of cough,
  • Non-visible breathing movements (more movement of the chest during breathing)
  • Immobility or agitation
  • Baby does not have teeth, so it is impossible to chew and crush hard food pieces completely. Chewing and swallowing are not well developed. Only visual signs can help to understand that suffocation is in progress.

Which actions to adopt?
You have just identified a risk situation, start by calling SOS number. You must send the following information to the emergency number:
  • The exact location: give your exact address and your position in the building (floor, bedroom, ...) and access codes if necessary
  • Describe the situation: is a foreign object stuck? Was it during a meal? What is the exact context of the choking situation?
  • Answer the questions calmly Do not hang up until the operator or doctor has told you
  • Send a phone number that will remain available when needed (sufficient battery, receiving the correct signal, ...).
  • The doctor may eventually allow you to perform Mofenson's maneuver or, on the contrary, completely forbid it, especially in the presence of a foreign body.

Mofenson's maneuver
Dr. Pascal Cassan, national medical adviser of the French Red Cross explains this maneuver to be summarized in 3 steps:
  • You have to put the child on your stomach on my knee
  • Then "I'm going to hit his back between the shoulder blades. "
  • Counting "the five steps is the same (note: only for older children) except that the anatomy is not exactly the same and smaller. "
  • what to do to save a baby's life

Be careful, "if the foreign body has not come out, I will return this child on his back and then I will not press the level of the hollow of his stomach." He explains that "I risk doing damage because he does not have enough musculature in this area. ". At this stage, a cardiac massage becomes necessary: "It is on his small thorax with two fingers that I will support where I will do the cardiac massage. ". He insists that "we always leave the head slightly sloped because obviously the gravity will allow this foreign body if necessary to leave. "

The Red Cross provides training for between 15 and 20$ for parents who wish. Let's teach you how to protect your children and the people around us!
Actions To Take To Save The Life Of A Baby Who Chokes