Airway clearance

| All foreign bodies must be removed so that they do not cause complications: pneumonia, persistent cough, asthma, and shortness of breath.

In some circumstances, such as the aspiration of a foreign object or body, it is necessary to practice the technique of unblocking the airway. It can be a very serious situation where the child's life is in danger. It is a very frequent fact in childhood due to the curiosity of putting everything in the mouth.

To do?

When the child inhales an object and it remains lodged in the throat, he begins to cough forcefully. Encourage him to cough as the coughing is likely to eject the object out. Do not hit the back or remove a foreign body lodged in the throat by hand blindly. There is a risk of inserting the object further, increasing the obstruction of the airway. Only if the object is easily removable and visible can extraction be attempted with the index finger as a hook.

In emergencies where the cough is unable to expel the foreign body and the child begins to look bad and a bluish color (cyanosis) due to lack of air, expulsion or Heimlich maneuvers are indicated.

The Heimlich maneuver consists of hugging the child from behind, passing the arms under the armpits and performing 5 sudden compressions with both hands clasped on the pit of the stomach, in an upward direction. If the child is not breathing, mouth-to-mouth breathing should be performed between Heimlich maneuver cycles.

In children under one year old, the child should be placed face down, with the head more inclined than the body and give 5 slaps in the area between the two scapulae, and then turn it over and do 5 chest compressions with two fingers on sternum. If the child is not breathing, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation should be done.

You must go immediately to an emergency center and call an ambulance.