The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-03-27
IN CHOKING CASES.
HOW TO HANDLE THE LITTLE
ONES WHEN STRANGLING.
What Should Be Done to Adult Persons
When ChOking-There Is No Time to
Be Lost in Inaction or Fright-valu-
able Hints.
able Hints.

The treatment which can in cases of chok-
ing be applied by friends who witness the
accident is very simple, but in some cases it
must prove Intellectual; it is a sad fact that
there is no certain means which can be ap-
piled by laymen. We will first consider what
is to be done when young children become
cho':ed. Treatment must in all instances
commence on the instant; there is not even
second to lose. Shaping them on the back
with considerable force is the old method,
known and employed by all mothers, and if
the offending object watch has ''gone the
wrong way" is small, or drop of liquid, that
very generally proves effectual. If, however,
it is not so Immediately, something else must
be done. The next step, and it would be as
well to take it even without waiting to see if
the first has proved successful, is to SO place
the child that the head will be lower than the
body and the face down. Very young chill
dren can be caught and suspended by the
feet or laid over the mothers knees; not on
the back but on 1.-THE stomach" That change
of position will often cause the offending sub
stance to drop into the mouth, and forcible
blow on the back will assist it,
NO TIME TO LOSE.
Pausing scarcely more than an instant to
see whether or not the child has caught his
breath, the mother, both hands being applied
70 the chest, should, with no little strength,
n,
one quick, sudden effort force the air con-
tanned therein from the lungs. If the child
is across her knees head and face downward,
this procedure will be easy, and the force
may be applied principally to the back, both
hands being placed on each side of the spine,
the fingers lying along the ribs. AS she
presses downward with the palms of her
hands, her fingers should press inward, by
which means very much of the air in the
lungs will be expelled. AS before said, tho
act must be sudden and quick, for it is only
by forcing large volume of air out of the
windpipe that we can expect to drive out the
object which closes it. If the child is held by
the feet, then the pressure upon the
chest should be applied to the sides OF
it, In all cases the hands should be re-
moved at once after the air is driven
from the lungs, so they can fill
again. 1t is well also to shake the body vio-
lently few times. In the meantime, if the
father, grown child or a neighbor is pres
ent, that one should be prepared to take the
aext step. While the child is across it's
mothers knees, in the position already de-
scribed, the assistant should kneel, and with
the fOrefipger search the throat and dislodge
the offending body if found They should
enter the finger quickly but gently and pass
it to the side of the throat, not directly in
Once back as far as they can put it, it should
be carried from one side to the other, and in
that way made to sweep the throat. Even if
they do not reach and dislodge the trouble,
they will very likely excite an effort on the
part of the victim to vomit, in which case
often the throat and windpipe are cleared. If
the mother is alone during the accident she
must use her own forefinger as described, the
head of the child being still kept low, with
the face downward
The treatment which bavo oiUoT1 ic
about all which can be applied in the absence
OF physician; the nearest should be sent for
the first instant the child becomes choked.
We have given one step after another which
should be taken. If any one is successful, of
course further treatment will be unnecessa-
ry. But there must be no long intervals be-
tween each. The danger is in all such cases
imminent, and whether or not the victim of
the accident will be saved will depend upon
how the first few moments are employed.
When the child Catches his breath" there
will be no mistaking the fact, and until he
does SO one method of treatment should fol-
low another in rapid succession, it being re-
membered that if one once fails it is not
likely to be successful if repeated, unless it
be searching the throat with the finger. At
the same time each must be we'll and thor
oughly employed.
TREATMENT FOR GROWN PERSONS.
The treatment which we have described
for children when chol1ed suggests that which
should be applied when a grown person
meets With that accident; the principle is the
same If person eating presents the symp-
toms, the first thing for bystander to do is
to give him "a sounding whack' on the back.
This sometimes will set him coughing. If it
does then friendly hand should be pressed
for a few moments on the so called Adams
apple. If that is done, and the offending OBJ
ject is in the windpipe, not infrequently it
VIII be elected. If it is not, without delay
the victim should be placed in the position
ordered for children, head low with the face
downward. If there is a sofa or bed at hand
he should be moved as quickly as possible to
that, and while being carried he should not
be face upward but turned and kept face
downward. Once on the bed or sofa, or ex-
tended on chair, lying on his stomach, he
should be drawn partly over the edge of
whatever he is lying upon until his head is
lower than his body. A friendly hand should
then support the forehead as one would
naturally do even were the patient endeavor-
ing to vOnlit. For one to pass the forefinger
into and sweep the throat while another vio-
lently shakes the body is the next experiment.
The air should also be driven from the lungs
by the same quick and sudden effort as de-
scribed in the case of a choking child.
In very rev cases Will this treatment fail,
but IL some it must. Efforts to save the I'M
fortunate must not, however, be relaxed until
a physician arrives and assumes charge of
the case. Here it is well to say that whoever
is sent for the physician should not fail to tell
him before he leaves his Office that the pa
tient is choking, that he may provide himself
with the proper instruments. This injunc-
ton may seem an unnecessary one to some,
and yet many messengers dispatched in such
emergencies are SO struck with terror they
are incoherent, and about all the doctor can
learn from them is that there has been an &C
cident and that he is needed at once, and so
he often leaves in haste, unprepared for the
work before him. Choking is an accident
where, in some instances, even if there is not
apparent life, there yet is hope AS has been