New Year’s Eve, beware of foreign bodies in the trachea

  Children are already prone to choking on food, plus the cold and flu are common, and coughing increases the risk of foreign bodies entering the airways. Not to mention that at New Year’s Eve families have peanuts, melon seeds and other snacks to entertain guests, the chances of this happening are also increased in disguise.  In fact, the foreign body into the children’s trachea is much more than that, coins, pen caps, toys accessories, buttons, even seemingly harmless snacks can kill children, these things really do not dare to think about.  Accidental death is the first cause of death among children aged 1 to 4 years old in China. Among the main causes of death such as suffocation, drowning, poisoning and traffic accidents, suffocation is the first, and the obstruction of the whistle tract due to exogenous foreign bodies is one of the main causes of accidental suffocation, especially among children aged 1 to 3 years old. Foreign bodies in the whistle (laryngotracheal and bronchial) are a serious threat to the life and health of children, causing not only direct loss of life and economic damage, but also immeasurable psychological trauma to the child’s family.  In case of foreign body stuck in the trachea, there is a common international “Hay’s first aid method”: Parents should pick up the child and put him/her on their chest, pinch both sides of the child’s cheekbone with one hand, put the arm against the child’s front chest, and hold the back of the child’s neck with the other hand so that he/she is lying face down on the parent’s knee. At this point, the parent can pat the child on the back one to five times and observe whether the child spits out the foreign body.  If the foreign body does not come out, turn the child over to face the parent and press the fingers together 1 to 5 times on the lower part of the child’s chest.  For older children, parents can hold the child from behind, hold each other’s hands, place them in the middle of the abdomen, and then suddenly press the abdomen upward, so that a stream of air rushes out from the airway, which helps to expel the foreign body.  Once again, remind parents that they must feed their children when they are emotionally stable, and that children are most likely to be at risk of choking on their airways when they cough, cry or laugh.