CPR and Choking Emergencies

The staff at Giant Steps daycare are about to experience a memory they will never forget. Giant Steps is a daycare for children with special needs on one of the building wings. They have seven year old Jerriah who has a feeding tube and a trait in her throat. Jerriah has several needs that require 24 hour surveillance such as she has seizures and is prone to stop breathing. The staff is aware of Jerriah conditions, but has never experience any problems with her since being in their care.

As the staff assigned to Jerriah is doing her (Ms. Tracy) daily checks she notices that Jerriah is not breathing. She immediately pushes the panic button on the wall which will alert all staff that there is a code blue in the building. Other trained staff will know to come to Ms. Tracy room. In the mean time Ms. Tracy remains calm because she knows the importance of it. Ms. Tracy is trained CPR personnel who specialize in children with special needs. Ms. Tracy then gets Jerriah and places her on the floor and carefully holds her forehead. She the places two fingers on Jerriah chest to perform compression at the rate specified for children Jerriah age.

Ms. Tracy notices that the steps are not helping Jerriah. She alerts the aid to dial 911. At this point the nurse on staff has arrived to Ms. Tracy room. The aid is updating the nurse on what has taken place so far. The nurse then tells Ms. Tracy to step away and let her take over. The nurse performs the same procedure with exception of blowing into Jerriah mouth. Jerriah immediately starts to show signs of breathing. The nurse suggests that Jerriah be taken to the hospital as a precaution.

The nurse asks Ms. Tracy to give her exact details as to what happen. After speaking with Ms. Tracy the nurse suggests that Ms. Tracy take another course of CPR as she forgot to blow into Jerriah mouth during the course of giving her CPR. It is safe to say that Ms. Tracy panic and did not remain calm as we thought earlier. It is important that caregivers know exactly what to do in case of an emergency. They are not to panic in any way as panic could cause problems and the child will not receive the proper treatment in course of panic.

Down the hall in wing two of Giant steps is Ms. Jones class in Ms. Jones class she has Jerriah twin Jerriya. Jerriya does not suffer from illness like her twin sister Jerriah. Ms. Jones class is having snack time and she notices that Jerriya appears to be choking. Ms. Jones immediately gets to her feet and sees if Jerriya is really choking. She asks Jerriya is she choking; Jerriya is unable to answer her. Ms. Jones then knows for sure that Jerriya is choking. Ms. Jones tells the aid to remain calm as she will also and to keep the rest of the class calm. Ms. Jones knows that it is important for the class to stay calm because it best for Jerriya.

Ms. Jones asks the aid to push the orange button to alert other staff and dial 911 while she performs the following steps. Ms. Jones stood behind Jerriya and wrapped her arms around Jerriya waist. Ms. Jones made a fist and placed it between the chest and the navel; she took her free hand and grabbed the fist pressing into the abdomen with a quick push upwards. Ms. Jones repeated this step two times before the object came out of Jerriya mouth. It appeared that Jerriya had stuffed her mouth with snack food she was given. Ms. Jones suggested that Jerriya be transported to the emergency room for precautions.

References

Robertson, C. (2007). Safety, Nutrition, and Health in Early Education (4th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Staywell custom communications. (2010). How to help a choking child. Retrieved from http://healthlibrary.brighamandwomens.org/RelatedItems/1,197