Posted on: Tuesday, June 7, 2005
'Safe scene' key to prevent keiki from choking
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 1-year-old child died at an O'ahu hospital Saturday after choking on a gumball last week.
• Don't leave small objects, such as buttons, coins and beads, within an infant's reach.
• Have children sit in a high chair or at a table while they eat. • Do not let children eat too fast. • Make sure toys are too large to be swallowed. • Do not give infants and small children foods such as nuts, grapes, popcorn or raw vegetables. Avoid hot dogs or cut them into round "coins" and then cut the coin slices in fourths. • Make sure toys have no small parts that can be pulled off. • Supervise children when they eat. Source: American Red Cross
To sign up for CPR classes given by a Red Cross-approved provider, call the state chapter of the American Red Cross at 734-2101 and select No. 4 from the automated menu. The toddler was rushed to a hospital but died from an injury caused by the lack of oxygen to the brain, police investigators said.
State Department of Health statistics show four children choked to death from 1991 to 2004, and one death each in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2003. The children were up to a year old or younger, officials said. All the deaths were on O'ahu.
Choking was the fifth-leading cause of unintentional deaths for all age groups in 2000, claiming the lives of about 3,200 people nationwide, according to the National Safety Council. More people died of choking that year than in fires, the safety statistics show.
Pierre Senat of the Hawai'i chapter of the American Red Cross said the best thing a parent can do to protect a young child from choking is to "set a safe scene" by keeping small objects out of reach.
The list is long and varied, ranging from the obvious — including jelly beans, hot dogs, coins, nuts, grapes, popcorn and raw vegetables — to the less-obvious, such as pieces of burst balloons and the popular rolled-fruit candies.
The last two are especially troublesome because they can block air flow through a tiny trachea, or windpipe, and can act like flap that keeps air from reaching the lungs.
But because almost every toddler explores by putting everything and anything into his or her mouth, parents need to know what to do if a child begins to choke, Senat said.
He strongly encouraged every parent to attend a life-saving class at least once a year and to make sure the class is being offered by an "authorized provider" such as the American Red Cross.
The typical Red Cross CPR class lasts about four hours and includes sections on adult, child and infant choking. Students receive hands-on instruction using adult-, child- and infant-size mannequins.
The object, Senat said, is to help students develop "psycho-motor skills" etched into memory that they can be be performed even in times of panic, Senat said.
"We know that in most cases, choking victims will black out after about two minutes, and that irreversible brain damage begins to set in within two minutes after someone passes out," Senat said.
Reach David Waite at 525-7412 or dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.
A police officer was sent to a Honolulu grocery store about 10:30 Thursday night and arrived to find the toddler in distress.
Choking-prevention tips
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