Note to Instructor: How to answer questions that students often ask
1. Why do children choke more often than adults? Actually choking is more common with the very young and the very old – it’s related to coordination and teeth! In the very young, choking is common because children are curious and explore by putting everything in their mouth. Small, interesting, shiny objects are likely to attract the child’s attention and small children have small airways which are easy to block. And young children, like the very old, typically don’t take the time or have the ability to chew food well.
2. How do I decide whether to do back blows/chest thrusts or abdominal thrusts if I don’t know when the child’s exact birthday is? Just make the best decision you can at the time with what you know about the child’s size and age. If an infant is a little less than a year old, but is walking and seems large for an infant, it is okay to do abdominal thrusts. The same is true of a small toddler who is just past their first birthday but is small for their age – it is okay to do the back blows/chest thrusts. The most important thing is to make your decision quickly and calmly and then start the steps to rescue the choking child.
3. Why is it so important to act quickly when the child is choking? Isn’t it better to let them try to get it out on their own? Remember the difference between coughing and choking. If the child is still moving air, then he is coughing and you want to let him try to cough the object out. Coughing helps! But if child isn’t moving air—he cannot cough, talk, cry, breathe, and looks frightened—he is choking. Coughing is good. Choking is bad. Choking means that the child cannot get rid of the blockage in the airway without your help. You have to act quickly because choking is a threat to life!
4. Why do we never pat or slap the infant or child on the back? Patting or slapping the infant or child on the back can cause the airway to briefly loosen its grip on the object and the object may be loose enough to move in the airway. If the infant or child is sitting or standing up, the object will fall deeper into the airway making the obstruction worse. But that’s why back blows work when the infant’s head is down and why it’s so important to keep the head lower than the chest at all times when doing back blows and chest thrusts.
5. When doing abdominal thrusts, how much difference does it make if I just put my arms around the child? If you just put your arms around the child, it is more likely that your arms will not be in the right position to do abdominal thrusts correctly. If your arms are not in the right place, abdominal thrusts probably will not work to relieve the airway obstruction and there’s a higher chance of injuring the child. When you put your arms around the child, your arms are usually too high – over the child’s ribs.
SAFE SITTER® INSTRUCTOR MANUAL | PAGE 41
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