A child choked on water while bathing: how to provide first aid

How to help a child if he has swallowed water while bathing

Even the most attentive and careful parents can have failures in caring for little fidgets. It is impossible to always keep one eye on the baby, whose curiosity sometimes leads him to dangerous places. Children are deprived of the instinct of self-preservation, and sometimes great trouble can happen because of this. For example, if a child has swallowed water, the consequences can be quite serious.

What is dangerous if a child has swallowed water

In theory, everything is simple: if the baby has swallowed water, it must be removed immediately. In reality, everything is much more complicated.

The most important point is where the water got to. Practice shows that before choking, a child swallows a large amount of water. Thus, the only danger here is the ingestion of various disease-causing microbes along with untreated water. These can be rotaviruses, enteroviruses, adenoviruses, etc.

However, intestinal infections can be treated, especially if you see a doctor quickly. Parents have a certain amount of time before the first symptoms appear. It is worse if water gets into the respiratory tract. In this case, signs of drowning rapidly increase, the situation becomes life-threatening, and without rescue measures, the child is doomed.

What to do if water gets into the respiratory tract

A lot depends on the amount of water. If it is one mouthful, the baby needs to clear his throat. If the child has swallowed too much water and is choking, it is necessary to provide first aid:

1. Pull the baby out of the water, thus stopping the flow of water into the respiratory tract.
2. If the child has sipped water while bathing, place him face down on your left hand (if you are right-handed), and with your right hand give five light blows with the edge of the palm between the shoulder blades. Carefully watch the child's mouth - water should pour out of it.
3. Turn the child over to the other hand, holding his head with your thumb and forefinger, examine the oral cavity, and also assess breathing.
4. If the baby starts to breathe, take him in your arms, calm him down, give him sweet tea and consult a doctor.
5. If there is no breathing, start resuscitation measures, which are described below.

If the child drank sea water while on vacation with you, the procedure for your actions is the same. The only difference is the age of the baby. You will not be able to hold a child of non-breast-feeding age for a long time. You need to hug her from behind, lean forward and give the same 5 blows with the edge of the palm between the shoulder blades. Then put your hands in a locked position in the place where the ribs meet, and forcefully push your fists into your stomach 5 times in the direction of you and up. Repeat these two manipulations several times until the baby coughs. If the child is not breathing, put him on his back and start resuscitation measures.

What to do if a child has swallowed water and is not breathing

Every person should know how to save a life if the victim has a cardiac and respiratory arrest. Unfortunately, this is not common in our country, but no one prevents you from contacting any doctor or paramedic and learning how to properly provide first aid. We will talk about indirect heart massage and artificial respiration. We will describe the order of these actions.

First, the victim must be placed correctly. His position is on his back, his head should be stretched as far as possible so that his mouth opens. Make sure that the child is not breathing and his heart is not beating. To do this, put your ear to her mouth and you will feel her breathing and see how her chest rises and falls. If there is no such thing, and there is a child in front of you, make 5 exhalations using the "mouth to mouth" or "mouth to nose and mouth" method (if the child is very small). Exhalations should be smooth and rhythmic. Also take into account that the size of the child's lungs is much smaller, and therefore the volume of exhalations should be smaller.

Only after these 5 exhalations, call for help and ask for an ambulance, and return to the victim yourself. Determine the presence of pulsation in the carotid artery (in the smallest, the pulse can be determined in the brachial or femoral artery - ask any doctor to show these places). In its absence, start an indirect heart massage, alternating it with artificial respiration in the ratio of 30 pressures on the chest to 2 exhalations.

In babies, you need to press with two fingers, in children up to 12-14 years old - with the palm of one hand, in older children, as in adults: the palm of one hand is placed on the back of the other hand, the fingers are crossed in a "lock". It is necessary to press 2 cm below the line passing through the nipples. The rate of clicks is 100-120 per minute. It is difficult for a layperson to appreciate the rhythm, and for this the professionals offer a simple trick: remember the rhythm of the song "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. It corresponds exactly to the right frequency - sing it to yourself so as not to go astray. By the way, this will help overcome the growing panic.

If during resuscitation the victim started vomiting, quickly turn his head to the side for a few seconds - so the contents of the stomach do not enter the lungs.

Stop resuscitation measures only in three cases:

• appearance of independent breathing and heartbeat;
• arrival of an ambulance (specify the time of the start of resuscitation measures);
• end of 30 minutes from the start of resuscitation.

Unfortunately, the last point is very important for the forecast. The fact is that even perfectly performed measures can provide the cerebral cortex with oxygen for only half an hour. After that, the brain begins to die, while the heart can still earn. The result of "success" is a living body with a dead brain, which cannot be restored.

So, it doesn't matter where the child sipped water in the pool, at the sea or in the bathtub while bathing. The main thing is not to panic and help her immediately. The website Dobrobut.com recommends that even in the case of complete success of all measures, you should not postpone a visit to the doctor in order to avoid delayed complications - pneumonia, intestinal infection, neurological disorders.