11. Choking - ADE Flashcards
Complete Obstruction
Total obstruction of the upper airway that prevents: Talking, breathing, coughing
Partial Obstruction
Complaints may include but are not limited to:
* Forceful coughs
* Wheezing sounds between coughs
* Abnormal breathing
* Difficulty speaking normally
Research Suffixes (For research purposely only and cannot be used to modify responses until approved by IAED)
F: Food
O: Object/Toy
C: Candy/Sweets/Gum
M: Milk/Liquid (non-toxic)
U: Unknown
Rule 1
A healthy child (or young adult) found in cardiac arrest is considered to have foreign body airway obstruction until proven otherwise
Rule 2.
Only if the victim of a partial obstruction begins to faint (pass out) should the EMD instruct the caller to try an obstructed airway maneuver, since the patient can no longer make efforts to clear his own airway.
Rule 3
Before ALPHA-response selection, the caller needs to verify the patient is not choking now (Can talk or cry, is alert and breathing normally)
Rule 4
Back slaps are not recommended in the DLS environment due to increased risk of injury from overly forceful or misplaced blows from an untrained caller
Axiom 1
Victims of COMPLETE airway obstruction are unable to speak, breathe or cough. WHen air movement to and from the lungs is completely blocked, patients often clutch their neck with the thumbs and fingers, making the universal choking sign. Prior to unconsciousness, movement of the chest and diaphragm during futile attempts to breathe may be interpreted as effective breathing by bystanders.
Axiom 2
PARTIAL obstruction can be made more life-threatening by attempted intervention in the breathing patient. The best approach for PARTIAL airway obstruction is to encourage the patient to continue spontaneous coughing and breathing efforts
Axiom 3
As true choking rarely occurs with liquids, gagging is a better term for the choking-like phenomenon that occurs with baby formula and other liquids. Gagging is rarely a prehospital emergency
Choking
Occurs when the airway is partially or totally blocked by an object. While most choking involves food, small children can choke on toys or other objects they put in their mouths, and many people choke on chewing gum
Repetitive Persistence Examples
Always combine a command with a reason:
* Maam you’re going to have to calm down in order to help your baby
* Sir please calm down and listen to me carefully so that we’re sure to do it right
* Your son needs you to calm down so that you can help him
Reassurance Examples
- “Its okay, we can do this together”
- “You’re doing great”
- “I am here with you”
- “Thats very good”
