HOME HEALTH GLIDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 August 1942, Page 5

HOME HEALTH GLIDE

THROAT OBSTRUCTIONS. WHAT TO DO IN CASES OF EMERGENCY. (By the Health Department.) Swallowing things which were never meant to be swallowed is usually left to ostriches and other things with freakish tastes. Sometimes, however, babies and toddlers, with their insatiable appetites Hoi’ almost anything, put things in their mouths that have no business to be there. Occasionally these things are swallowed, and usually no very serious damage results.

When, however, baby—or anyone else —accidentally swallows a pin, there is reason for alarm. Generally the pin proves harmless, so don’t give way to panic. Make him swallow half-a-dozen little rolled up balls of cotton wool. If they are thoroughly moistened first, the swallowing will be easy. The idea is that the pin will become embedded in the fibres of the cotton wool, and pass safely through the body. No purgative, however, should be given. Then there is that distressing experience of ‘something going down the wrong way.’ Most of us know all about it. Usually it is a crumb or some fluid, and, apart from causing a bout, of coughing, the incident passes off harmlessly. The position when something more substantial, such as a half-chewed piece of meat, causes a blockage, is much more serious, particularly if it gets lodged at the entrance to the windpipe. The appearance of anyone who is choked this way is distinctly disturbing. He gasps and strangles, and cannot get his breath; his face becomes congested and turns dark blue. Occasionally death may occur, but, as a general rule, the sufferer himself removes the obstruction in a violent spasm of coughing, and so clears the air passage. If a small child chokes this way he may need help. Lift him up by the heels and thump him between the shoulder blades. In case of an older person who cannot get rid of the offending material, insert your fingers along, his tongue to the back of the throat, and try to get hold of the obstruction and pull it out. This will probably make the sufferer vomit, which should bring the much-needed relief.