Signs of Choking

Choking occurs when something blocks the airway. When the airway is completely blocked, the child cannot breathe. Choking can be a frightening emergency. But if you act quickly, you can help the child breathe.

If the child can speak or cough loudly, the child's airway is only partly blocked. You should not try to open the airway. If you are worried about the child's breathing, Phone 9-1-1.

Signs of choking in the child with a completely blocked airway are

• The child suddenly begins to cough, gag. or have high-pitched, noisy breathing
• An older child may make the choking sign (holding the neck with one or both hands)
• The child has bluish lips or skin

Campbell gave us a little scare on Saturday. She was eating a hard candy and suddenly stopped breathing. Having seen this before (at a Valentine's Day party my friends little girl choked on a sucker) I instantly picked her up to do a couple back slaps and give gravity a chance to help. My mom tried the finger sweep while yelling instructions to Luke to call 9-1-1. Campbell's face had turned purple. Starting from her lips it moved out to her whole face. The finger sweep had dislodged the candy and she started crying. We were very shaky for the next two hours from all the adrenaline. It was so scary and every time I look at her I just think about how differently it could have turned out. I've watched enough ER that I think I could have possibly done a trach if needed, my parents live way out in the middle of nowhere and it would take an ambulance forever to get there, I think about these things. Just so you all know, the finger sweep is not what you are supposed to do. It could lodge the object further down the throat or propel it into the larynx. It is a knee jerk reaction to get to the object. The Heimlich Maneuver actually makes your body cough so the object can be expelled.

I saw her swallow the candy whole. I am thankful that I was in the room at the time it happened. I don't know if it is because there is so much more room in her throat now that her tonsils are gone that she tries to swallow larger things. We have talked to her a lot about chewing her food and not swallowing big pieces. Bill said that Campbell is the boy that we haven't had. She sure is a spit fire. Not even 15 minutes later she was getting her shoes on to go play in the backyard, by herself, in the snow.