What should be your first reaction when a child fastened in a child safety seat chokes on food?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
B. Stop the car, take out the child and, holding it head downwards, pat it on the back.
Explanation
In the photo you can see a small child in a child seat on the back seat of a car. When a child in a child seat has choked on food, you first stop the car safely, take the child out and, holding them head down, strike them between the shoulder blades - answer B. Driving to the hospital (A) takes too long, because without breathing the brain can survive only a few minutes, and only calling for help without doing anything (C) may also end tragically.
The State Emergency Medical Services Act requires you to notify the services about a person in a sudden health emergency, and the Criminal Code punishes failure to give help. When a child is choking, seconds count: you place a baby face down on your forearm, with the head lower than the body, and give up to 5 blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand; if this does not help, you turn the baby onto its back and give 5 chest thrusts with two fingers. For an older child, after the back blows you use abdominal thrusts. At the same time you call 112, and if the child loses consciousness, you start CPR.
Legal basis: Art. 4 para. 1 of the State Emergency Medical Services Act; Art. 162 § 1 of the Criminal Code