Airway obstruction usually occurs when an object, most commonly food, lodges and blocks airflow, and it can happen in both adults and children.
The Pan American Health Organization reports that drowning is one of the leading causes of death worldwide for children and young people aged 1 to 24, with an estimated 236,000 drowning deaths in 2019.
It’s always important to know how to respond in this type of situation, especially with children, notes Dr. Luis Guillermo Meave Cueva, a pediatrics specialist at ABC Medical Center.
Airway obstruction can occur at different levels of severity. In mild cases, the child may cough, make sounds, or even speak. In this situation, stay close to the child once you notice it, encourage them to keep coughing, and let the coughing clear the obstruction. Once this happens, it’s always a good idea to follow up with a pediatrician for further evaluation. If coughing doesn’t clear the obstruction, seek emergency medical help as quickly as possible.
If the child is experiencing a severe obstruction, the first step is to perform the Heimlich maneuver, which involves giving firm, quick abdominal thrusts just above the belly button to help dislodge the object using the air in the lungs. This version of the maneuver should only be performed on children over one year of age, notes Dr. Meave.
Never perform this maneuver for infants under one year old, as it can cause harm. If an infant is experiencing airway obstruction, they should be placed face-down and given back blows between the shoulder blades, alternating with chest thrusts, see the video at minute 2:15 accompanying this article for the correct technique.
The goal of this maneuver is to trigger a coughing reflex to help expel the object. If successful, it’s still important to eventually seek emergency evaluation. If, however, the child stops responding and the object hasn’t been expelled, seek emergency care immediately, either by taking them to the emergency room or calling an ambulance.
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