AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION

AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION

The airway may be obstructed by food, vomit, by swelling of the throat after injury, or , in an unconscious casualty, by the tongue. The child may inhale a foreign body that can block the lower air passages, or swell within the lung, possibly resulting in a collapsed lung or pneurmonia.

General signs of an obstructed airway

• Noisy, laboured breathing.

• Reversing movement of the chest and abdomen: the chest wall will suck in and the abdomen will push out.

• Blueness of the skin (cyanosis).

• Flaring of the nostrils.

• Drawing in of the chest wall between the ribs and the soft spaces above the collar bone and breastbone.

• Also see Burns to the mouth and throat, Inhaled foreign body, Opening the airway, Unconsciousness.

SUFFOCATION

This occurs when air is prevented from reaching the lungs, either because there is a physical barrier that prevents air entering the nose and mouth, or because the air the casualty breathes is full of fumes or smoke.

TREATMENT

Your aims are:

• To restore the supply of fresh air to the casualty’s lungs.

• To seek medical aid.

1. Remove any obstruction to breathing, or move the casualty into fresh air.

If she is unconscious, check breathing and pulse, and be prepared to resuscitate. Dial 999 for an ambulance, and place her in the recovery position.

2. If she is conscious, reassure her, but keep her under observation. Call a doctor or an ambulance.

A foreign object sticking at the back of the throat may either block throat, or induce muscular spasm. This is known as choking. The adults may choke on a piece of food that has been inadequately chewed and hurriedly swallowed. Young children like putting objects inside their mouths and boiled sweets are a particular danger.

RECONGNITION

There will be:

• Difficulty in speaking and breaking.

There may be:

• Blueness of the skin (cyanosis).

• Signs from the casualty – pointing to the throat, or grasping the neck.

TREATMENT

Your aim is:

To remove the obstruction and restore normal breathing.

FOR AN ADULT

1. Reassure the casualty. Bend her forwards so that her head is lower than her chest.

2. Give up back to five sharp blows to her back, between the shoulder blades, with the flat of your hand

3. If backslaps fail, try abdominal thrusts. The sudden pull up against the diaphragm compresses the chest, and may expel the obstruction. If this does not free the blockage, try again four times, then alternate five back blows with five thrusts. If the casualty becomes unconscious, treat as described opposite.

FOR A CHILD

Place the child over your knee, head down. Slap him between the shoulder blades, using less force than for an adult . If back blows fail, use the abdominal thrust only if you have been trained to do so on a child. Otherwise, begin resuscitation.

FOR A BABY

Lay the body along your forearm. Slope her between the shoulder blades, using less force than for a child. If the baby becomes unconscious, begin resuscitation. Do not use the abdominal thrust.

If she starts to breathe normally, place her in the recovery position, and call an ambulance. Check and record breathing and pulse rate every 10 minutes. If she does not start to breathe again, dial 999 for an ambulance, and begin resuscitation.