They All Call Me Mom

Choking

Choking.
This is a fear of mine.
Would you know what to do if you were eating alone and began to choke?  If you suddenly were not getting any air?   Most of us would panic.  It’s a very scary feeling.
According to Wikipedia, choking, – which is caused by food or another foreign object becoming lodged in the throat, or airway – accounts for nearly 4,600 deaths each year.  Can you believe that?  Now, that is scary.
About a month ago, I was driving in our van with a car full of kids.  We had Alex’s best friend *Chad along with us.  Chad is 12 years old and is one of the neatest kids you could ever know.  He spends a lot of time with us, and I just love having him around.Whenever Chad is in our van, his assigned seat is the normally empty one next to Aria.  And that Aria is still less than 35 pounds in weight, she still sits  rear-facing in her car seat.  So when Chad is next to her, he is looking right into her face pretty much the entire time.  Lucky Chad gets to be the one to tend to her during our drives. Aria has actually grown to love Chad, so this is a cool thing.

 
Anyway, we were driving a long and the kids were all snacking on some Mike & Ike candy.  Aria was, too.  So I told Chad to keep an eye on her to be sure she didn’t choke.  Then it occurred to me that he might not know what it looks like when a baby is choking. So I asked him how he would know if Aria was choking and not getting any air, and like I suspected, he said, “Well…she would start coughing.” Wrong!  If you are coughing, you are getting AIR — you are not truly choking.  When you choke, you are unable to make a sound.

 
And so I used this time in the car to teach him what  “real” choking was like.  I told him the signs of a choking person, but most of all I warned him that when you are choking and not getting any air,  it is a SILENT KILLER because you make no sound at all, and so people might not even notice if you are choking unless they are looking right at you, and you have only about a minute or two before you pass out.  He really paid attention to what I was telling him.   I must have repeated myself a few times, you know, for emphasis.  I tend to do that, you know, with the really important things.
 
(Sometimes my kids get a little bugged at me for going on and on about something when their friends are with us, especially if I’m trying to give their friends a “lesson” on something.  But whatever!  If it’s important, then I feel it’s okay to do this.   So on that day, Chad learned a little bit about choking.)
Okay now, fast forward to three weeks after that day in the car:  I got the story first from Chad’s parents and then the next day from Chad himself.Chad was up late one night in his house and went downstairs for some food.  He was alone in the kitchen.  His parents were upstairs  in their bedroom, and they told me that all of a sudden they heard crashing noises from downstairs.  They got up from their bed and ran towards the stairs, only to find Chad lying at the bottom of the staircase.  They ran down to him and asked him what happened, and between sobs he said “I was choking!!”   They went into the kitchen and found chairs overturned, food and water on the floor.  They asked Chad what happened in here?!!   And he explained that Alex’s mom (that’s me!) told him that choking is a silent killer, and so once he realized he was choking, he tried  to make noise in the kitchen by turning over the chairs. In his panic, his food and his drink dropped to the floor, too.  Then when he realized that his parents might not hear him, he did his best to RUN to their bedroom.  While doing that, he was in such a panic that he tripped on the wooded staircase and  landed hard on his stomach, the force to his diaphragm dislodging the food  OUT of his windpipe!  And then he began to cry, of course, because the whole ordeal scared him.

Can you believe this???   My poor little Chad!  My little buddy!  I was dying when he told me this. My mouth was open the entire time while he told me what had happened, and I must have said, “Shut! Up!” at least five times.  I just couldn’t believe it.   He said to me, “Yea… I remembered what you said about choking being a silent killer, and I wanted someone to hear me, so I started knocking things over…then I just ran.  I was  scared!”   His little 12 year old eyes were WIDE open when he told me this.  He’s so darn cute.  I love that kid, I swear.  I just want to adopt him into our family and pretend that he and Alex are twins.  They actually look sort of alike.  I think I could pass it off!Man, I am so glad that I had that talk with him in the car that one day.  You never know, you know?  You just never know when what you say might make a difference in someone’s life.

Wow.

So do YOU know what to do if you  find yourself choking when no one is around? They say you could throw yourself over a chair or over a couch to dislodge whatever is in your windpipe, or you could do the Heimlich maneuver on yourself, but to do both of those techniques would take a lot of force – enough force to hurt yourself, and even in a panic we are not likely to intentionally do something that would hurt our bodies.  What happened to Chad was an actual fall, not something he planned or even tried to do.  And that is why it worked.  He fell hard enough for it to work correctly.  But even if he hadn’t fallen, his parents would have reached him in time.  So what he did RIGHT was to get the attention of those in the house.

If you find yourself choking and you are alone in the house…

1)  call 911 from a land line immediately.
2)  leave the phone off the hook
3)  go to your front door and open it.  Leave it open.
4) at that time you can begin trying to dislodge whatever is in your windpipe… but do the other steps FIRST!


This simple advice will save your life.  Why?  All emergency units respond to 911 calls, whether or not you are able to speak.  If you’re experiencing a true choking emergency you’ll be unable to speak.  So, leaving the phone line open ensures that emergency personnel will respond.  On average, our blood contains about 6 minutes of oxygen.  Even though you’re choking, the heart is still beating, pumping blood and supplying oxygen to the brain.  By going to the front door and opening it for the responders, you’re removing an obstacle that may prevent them from getting to you before the brain suffers from lack of oxygen.


You could also try going to your neighbor if you know they are home…but always call 911 first and stay visible so that the emergency crew can get to you as soon as possible.

*name has been changed for privacy

 I’m linking up at:

BoostMyBlogFriday

 






post signature

Comments

  1. I don’t even understand how I ended up right here,
    however I thought this put up was good. I don’t know who you’re however certainly you’re going to a
    famous blogger in case you aren’t already. Cheers!

    Reply

    • Well, it appears you were lost and ended up at my blog – glad you enjoyed my post. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! Cheers right back at ‘cha!

      Reply

  2. This is my biggest mommy phobia (that and car accident injury, which is why my girls are and will be rear facing as long as possible and I love your info about this) and I am constantly telling my older daughter “small bites, chew carefully, don’t speak with your mouth full” etc. etc. How amazing that you probably saved that boy’s life.

    I just found your blog (from your post on mine, thanks!) and am really enjoying reading through it. It’s wonderful! – Amy (Motherhood and Miscellany)

    Reply

  4. I choked when I was alone many years ago. I remember eating a piece of cheese and then not being able to breathe. I remember trying to dislodge it and not being able to. It never even occurred to me at the time to call 911.
    I woke up covered in an awful sweat on the living room floor. I immediately called my doctor and she said that when I passed out my throat relaxed enough to let the cheese pass through. It was terrifying.
    Julie

    Reply

  5. Wow! So good you told him! Thanks for sharing- I honestly didn’t know the part about opening the door to my house, but it makes so much sense. I will tell my friends!

    I came over from The Spohrs Are Multiplying :)

    Reply

  7. Thanks for swinging by 2 Against 1 – Twins. Following back now. Happy to hear someone who is actually envious of me and my twins, most tell me they wouldn’t want to trade places with me. They’re my everything and challenging at first, yes. But I think being a new mom can be challenging to anyone. Wow 9 children! I am so happy to be a follower of yours, you are an inspiration. :)

    Reply

  11. Wow this is so scary. I seriously have not talked to my oldest about this and I should. You saved that boys life!

    BTW I love that you have a big family, for some reason people think we are crazy when we said we want lots of kids (we have an 18 yr old and and a 22 mo. old) Your family is beautiful, thanks for the lovely comment.

    Reply

  12. Who would have thought your lil advice to that boy would help save his life! What a great story :)
    So glad you came and visited my blog, I thought I had already added you but I guess I didn’t so I am now a follower. Your blog is great and the story of Audriana broke my heart.
    Oh and yes Kelly’s blog is amazing, love it!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *