In Ireland over the past two days, two children have died in choking-related tragedies involving food.
On Wednesday, a young boy from Cork choked to death on a piece of fruit - believed to be a grape - at his family home in what has been described as a “devastating tragedy”.
In Co Wicklow last week, a child aged around two years old became ill after complications when eating food in a creche. An ambulance was called to the scene and the child was taken to Crumlin children’s hospital in Dublin, but was later pronounced dead.
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Statistics show that in the European Union alone each year, an estimated 400 children, aged 14 years or younger die from choking.
If a parent, sibling or guardian notices a child start to cough all of a sudden and is not ill, the HSE advises that there's a good chance that they're choking.
As well as this, if you talk to them and they are unable to breathe, cry, talk or cough, they may be choking.
“If your child is conscious but they are not coughing effectively, you'll need to deliver first aid”.
The HSE explains their four-step system to try and relieve your child of whatever they’re choking on, and it is as follows:
Step 1 - Cough it out
If your child is coughing effectively, encourage them to cough.
If that does not work, you may need to try slap it out.
Step 2 - Slap it out
Stand behind your child. Support them in a forward-leaning position.
Give up to 5 blows to the back between the shoulder blades.
If this does not dislodge the object, you will need to try and squeeze the object out.
Step 3 - Squeeze it out
Stand or kneel behind the child.
Give 5 abdominal thrusts (this is called the Heimlich manoeuvre).
Clench your fist and place it between the belly button and the ribs.
Grasp this hand with your other hand and pull sharply inwards and upwards.
It is important that you do not apply pressure to the ribs as this may cause damage.
Step 4 - call 112 or 999
Keep doing 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts. Do this until the object pops out, the ambulance arrives or your child is unresponsive.
The emergency phone operator will also guide you through how to give CPR if your child becomes unresponsive.
If you see the object during PCR, remove it with your fingers. Do not place your fingers into your child's mouth if you cannot see the object.
If the object does come out, you should still get medical help afterwards. This is in case part of the object remains or your child has had an injury during the procedure.
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