Danllan
Member
- Location
- Sir Gar / Carms
Sorry mod's for posting here, but it really should be as widely read as possible. To everyone else, please read...
Yesterday afternoon I left my children eating in the kitchen, Mrs Danllan was at work, I was only in the next room and had just started to clear up some of their 'destruction' when my oldest boy rushed in. He was rather excited, I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I told him to be quiet, think what he wanted to say, and then say it clearly.
He told me my little girl was choking... I ran in to the kitchen, and she was indeed choking. She was terrified, red in the face and clearly panicking. The others were frightened and crying too by then - all of them are primary age, her the youngest.
I've done enough First Aid to know the drills, even a paediatric resus' course years ago, so I checked in her mouth to see if the obstruction could be seen and maybe pulled out, it was out of sight. Next I tried striking her on the back, progressively harder strikes, checked the mouth again, nothing. I did this several times, quickly, all with no result.
I moved on to the Heimlich technique, only using one hand in a fist because of her being so small. Several goes, in turns with some more strikes on her back, no good. By now she had been a darker red and was starting to look blue - I told my oldest boy to call 999 for an ambulance.
I had to communicate with the call handler while carrying on, she had a medic on the way immediately; by now the blueness was clear and I decided that I wouldn't waste more time talking. I didn't know what was in her throat but I knew that if the Heimlich thrusts didn't work soon, I'd have to either try and force the object down past the tracheal branch - a bad choice in a small child - or cut her for a crico-thyroid tube insertion - something I've seen done but have never done myself, a truly horrible thought...
I gave her a couple more rotations of back-strikes and Heimlich thrusts, nothing. Her colour got worse. I decided I'd do two more rotations and then resort to cutting. I did the last two cycles, no luck. I gave one more Heimlich thrust, out of desperation, and it came out like a rocket! A slice of sausage over an inch wide and maybe a quarter as thick.
I tried to cancel the ambulance, but it came anyway because she is a child, and we had an evening trip to the paediatric A & E 'tent' at Glangwili in Carmarthen. She already had some bruising on her back and was complaining that her tummy hurt, but the consultant poked and looked and listened and declared all well and, for an irony, gave me a big pat on the back. Having, by then, returned to her normal way of being, my girl's greatest worry was when the red dots - blood vessels - showing around her eyes would go... relief all round.
I've had live bullets come at me, fallen badly while climbing, had wild and domestic animals try to kill me, but I have never, ever been so scared as I was at the realistic thought of my little girl dying... I found myself rather thoughtful last night. Serious lump-in-the-throat time...
Point is, if you haven't done a first aid course, could you save your little girl, boy, wife, husband or anyone else? Do one.
Yesterday afternoon I left my children eating in the kitchen, Mrs Danllan was at work, I was only in the next room and had just started to clear up some of their 'destruction' when my oldest boy rushed in. He was rather excited, I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I told him to be quiet, think what he wanted to say, and then say it clearly.
He told me my little girl was choking... I ran in to the kitchen, and she was indeed choking. She was terrified, red in the face and clearly panicking. The others were frightened and crying too by then - all of them are primary age, her the youngest.
I've done enough First Aid to know the drills, even a paediatric resus' course years ago, so I checked in her mouth to see if the obstruction could be seen and maybe pulled out, it was out of sight. Next I tried striking her on the back, progressively harder strikes, checked the mouth again, nothing. I did this several times, quickly, all with no result.
I moved on to the Heimlich technique, only using one hand in a fist because of her being so small. Several goes, in turns with some more strikes on her back, no good. By now she had been a darker red and was starting to look blue - I told my oldest boy to call 999 for an ambulance.
I had to communicate with the call handler while carrying on, she had a medic on the way immediately; by now the blueness was clear and I decided that I wouldn't waste more time talking. I didn't know what was in her throat but I knew that if the Heimlich thrusts didn't work soon, I'd have to either try and force the object down past the tracheal branch - a bad choice in a small child - or cut her for a crico-thyroid tube insertion - something I've seen done but have never done myself, a truly horrible thought...
I gave her a couple more rotations of back-strikes and Heimlich thrusts, nothing. Her colour got worse. I decided I'd do two more rotations and then resort to cutting. I did the last two cycles, no luck. I gave one more Heimlich thrust, out of desperation, and it came out like a rocket! A slice of sausage over an inch wide and maybe a quarter as thick.
I tried to cancel the ambulance, but it came anyway because she is a child, and we had an evening trip to the paediatric A & E 'tent' at Glangwili in Carmarthen. She already had some bruising on her back and was complaining that her tummy hurt, but the consultant poked and looked and listened and declared all well and, for an irony, gave me a big pat on the back. Having, by then, returned to her normal way of being, my girl's greatest worry was when the red dots - blood vessels - showing around her eyes would go... relief all round.
I've had live bullets come at me, fallen badly while climbing, had wild and domestic animals try to kill me, but I have never, ever been so scared as I was at the realistic thought of my little girl dying... I found myself rather thoughtful last night. Serious lump-in-the-throat time...
Point is, if you haven't done a first aid course, could you save your little girl, boy, wife, husband or anyone else? Do one.
