How to save a child in few seconds.

Hello everyone, my name is Salvatore, I'm a nurse and work for 11 years in Emergency Department...

I wanted to try to bring part of my job to make health education to the community..I have a small child of five years, and even if you have small children, you can imagine the terror in seeing him choke while eating.

Between two and six years the main cause of death is the obstruction of the airways. Now I want give you some little maneuvers for save the life of a child.

The suffocation maneuvers are simple gestures that, when done well, can save a child more than 90% of cases. When in fact a child of the respiratory pathways are blocked by a foreign body, oxygen can not reach the blood. All our bodies need oxygen to function, but one of these is particularly sensitive: the brain. It only takes a few minutes (about 4) in the absence of oxygen to cause damage to the cells of our brain, and after about 10 minutes start to die. Early intervention is therefore crucial!

Let's see the different steps to be implemented in case of choking:

1 There crouches behind the child (or you are standing in the case of larger or adult boy) by placing our head slightly tight angle to that of the child. We pass our arms under the victim's arms and carry in the abdomen.

2 With two fingers of one hand (usually thumb and middle finger or thumb and index) becomes a kind of letter "C" between the baby's navel and the final part of the sternum (the breastbone is the central bone of the rib cage) . Within this "C" you will place your other hand in the shape of punch. This hand you will then place in the abdomen, more precisely at the height of the pit of the stomach or immediately below the diaphragm (the diaphragm is the muscle that separates the chest and abdomen). The position of the punch is critical to ensuring the success of the maneuver, then take a few seconds to make sure you have it placed correctly. In fact we will have to be careful not to place it on the chest (hear in this case a hard surface under our hand, due to the chest bones and not soft as it is that of the "belly") and in a central position. The surface of our fist will also have to be completely attached to the abdomen of the victim. Recall that at this stage the child, panicked, could escape or resist, which is why you may need to use a lot of force to block it!

3 Once positioned and stabilized the child, it will proceed with the Heimlich maneuver, even maneuver called "spoon". You know the movement that you do when you eat soup? The same movement will have to be done from your punch: not only from the outside towards the inside (from outside inwards), but also from bottom to top! It 'important that these two movements are made simultaneously with force and decision! Recall that we should try to "simulate the cough" reason why more than to push from the inside out, we will also cause one pressure from the bottom to the top which can in some way to move the object! The maneuver is repeated 5 times and NEVER REMOVE the surface of our fist from the abdomen of the child! In adults and older children, where do you explain the maneuver to follow can be complicated, it should be done repeatedly until the obstruction resolution or until the person does not lose consciousness!

4 Another very useful maneuver for unblocking is represented by patting back (we want to emphasize that for some of these guidelines are the first maneuvers that must be made in the child). To properly perform this maneuver you must always put in a squatting position behind the child, stabilize blocking his head through the "jaw socket" (you have to make a kind of "C" by placing the thumb of one hand on his cheek and the other fingers on the other cheek, in practice from one ear to the other) then bringing, roughly, the baby's belly on our thigh. Once positioned and stabilized child, he will proceed (with the other hand than that which will help to lock the child through the socket of the jaw) by administering five pats interscapular via lateral escape. What does it mean? That with the initial part of the palm I'll give 5 pats on the back of the child, to be precise between the shoulder blades. Also, to avoid hurting the same (for example bumping his head) I'll make that my hand "flee" sideways. But those "pats" will have to be strong or weak? We know that when you have a child in front of you is always afraid to use force, but in this case you have to be brave and give 5 slaps intense and strong (of course, do not overdo it!). If in fact they are too weak they will not be able to shake the foreign body, and risk being completely useless! We recall a fundamental message: our aim is not to "get to 5", but every pat must be given with intensity and precision, as if it was the decisive one! If it is done well, in most cases already after the first 2-3 we have succeeded! If at the end of 5 pats the child is still blocked, you will immediately proceed with the Heimlich maneuver, as explained above. The alternation of the two maneuvers (5 + 5 back slaps maneuvers "spoon") can be an important element for the success of our operation.

Reading this article maneuvers unblocking will seem very complicated ... but are extremely simple! Precisely why today many initiatives have undertaken to teach virtually, through a first-person training on special mannequins. This element is essential for good learning (watching is not enough!), to become masters of the maneuvers and to learn how not to panic!