What Happens To Do When You Choking

Choking is a scary and serious experience. If you know and understand how your body works, it can help you recognize, respond to and prevent a choking emergency. Check out this helpful information on choking anatomy:

At the back of your throat the esophagus and trachea share an opening. Food goes down the esophagus and air goes down the trachea or windpipe.

The epiglottis is a small flap of cartilage that covers the opening of the trachea when you eat. When you swallow you body knows what to do and closes the trachea.

Occasionally, the epiglottis doesn’t close fast enough and food can slip down the trachea. Things like laughing, running, and goofing around while eating can lead to choking. Taking small bites and chewing thoroughly before swallowing can help ensure food goes down the correct pipe.

When food gets into the trachea sometimes your body can fix the problem by coughing up the blockages. But, when the object is lodged further down the trachea it blocks airflow to the lungs.

If someone is truly choking, they won’t be able to breathe or talk and their face might turn red. If the brain goes too long without oxygen, damage or even death can occur. Immediate action must be taken.

Most common choking foods

Common food items resulting in choking, especially in children, include:

• Hot dog      
• Hard candy
• Chewing gum          
• Nuts and seeds
• Chunks of meat or cheese
• Whole grapes
• Popcorn
• Chunks of peanut butter
• Raw vegetables
• Raisins

Most common choking risks and scenarios

Advanced age

As you grow older, your gag reflex may decrease and this increases the chance of choking.

Drinking alcohol

Your swallowing mechanism and gag reflex can be impaired if you’ve had excessive alcohol.

Diseases resulting in swallowing problems

Parkinson’s disease is an example of a condition that disrupts the swallowing mechanism. Patients are prone to choking and recurrent chest infections.

Big bites

Taking a big bite of a steak larger than what your mouth can chew can result in improper swallowing and breathing, and thus choking. Eating too many small items like nuts at once can also result in choking since these nuts are small and can end up in the airway.

Inattention while eating

Sometimes when you’re talking, laughing and eating at the same time, your coordination of swallowing and breathing can lapse and result in choking. For kids, running while eating increases the chance of choking as the child may inhale the food while taking a deep breath.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to treat choking

First aid CPR procedure includes:

• Place the person on their back on a hard surface such as the floor (place a baby on a table).
• Tilt the person's head gently back, pinch the nostrils closed, cover their mouth with yours to create a seal and blow firmly. (Do not tilt a baby’s head back. Instead, cover their nostrils and mouth with your mouth. Blow in puffs.)
• Place the heel of one hand on the lower half of the person’s breastbone. Place the other hand on top of the first hand and interlock your fingers. Keep your fingers up so that only the heel of your hand is on the person’s chest. Use only one hand for children aged between one and eight. Use two fingers for babies.
• Press down firmly and smoothly (compressing to one third of chest depth) 30 times. Then administer two breaths. Repeat at the rhythm of five cycles in two minutes.
• Continue CPR and only stop when the ambulance officers take over or the person recovers.

Children and choking

Treatment for a choking child or baby is slightly different than for an adult. The most important thing to remember is never to pat or slap your choking child on the back if they are managing to cough. Your actions may dislodge the object and allow it to be inhaled deeper into the airway.

Note that in a young child, their struggle to breathe may not last long and the stopping of frantic activity may signal a serious or life-threatening situation, rather than a sign that they have dislodged the blockage. Look for other signs and symptoms such as the child’s responses, a pale face, or cold and clammy skin. These are signs that the child is in shock.

Immediate steps when a child is choking

When a child is choking:

• Immediately check if the child is still able to breathe, cough or cry. If so, they may be able to dislodge the object by coughing.
• Do not try to dislodge the object by hitting the child on the back or squeezing the stomach – this may move the object into a more dangerous position and cause the child to stop breathing.
• Stay with the child and watch to see if their breathing improves.
• If, after the coughing settles down, there is any continued noisy breathing or coughing, take the child to see a doctor, as the object may have lodged in the windpipe or airway. If this is the case, it will need to be removed in hospital using a special instrument.

Precautions to prevent children choking

Small children are at risk from choking on food and small items such as buttons or beads. Parents can take many precautions to reduce the risk of their child choking.

The molars (back teeth) are used for grinding and mashing foods. Children don't start getting their molars until they are somewhere between 12 and 18 months of age, and it may take a further two years or more until all the molars are through and the child is very good at chewing. This means they are vulnerable to choking on hard foods such as raw carrot, chunks of apple, lollies, popcorn or peanuts.

Suggestions to prevent choking include:

• Hard foods should be cooked, mashed, grated or avoided altogether.
• Cut meat into small, manageable pieces for your child, and remove tough skins from sausages and frankfurters.
• Cut food lengthwise to make it narrower.
• Supervise your child while they are eating.
• Explain to your child the importance of eating food quietly and while sitting down.
• Don't try to feed them if they are laughing or crying.

Remove choking hazards

Parents should be aware of potential choking hazards. Suggestions include:

• Treat any object smaller than a ping-pong ball (such as coins, buttons, marbles and beads) as a possible choking threat. Keep these small objects out of your child's reach.
• Polystyrene beads, found in beanbags and some stuffed toys, are easily inhaled. Check toys regularly for signs of wear and tear.
• If you spot a potential choking hazard, remove or secure it immediately.
• Warning labels on toys, such as 'Not suitable for children under three years', means that small parts may present a choking hazard. The label doesn't refer to skill level.
• Keep balloons away from small children. A bitten balloon may burst and send fragments down the child's throat.
• Older children in the household should be warned not to leave potentially dangerous items near young children.
• Peanuts are a well-known hazard.