Week 3: Being Prepared for a Choking or CPR Emergency

Are You Prepared for a Choking or CPR Emergency?

In this blog entry we will be looking at two different emergency situations that could occur at an early childhood facility. We will be discussing why it is imperative to not only be properly trained to handle these situations, but also have an emergency plan in place if you are faced with an emergency situation.

Scenario 1:

A 4 year old in a preschool setting is choking on a cube of cheese that was brought for snack that day. The cheese is firmly lodged, and you will need to assist the child in order to remove it.

Response:

·         Your first response should always be to act immediately and remain calm (Robertson, 2013). .

·         It is evident that the child needs immediate assistance. You cannot wait for emergency personnel to arrive, nor can you wait to create a plan of action with the child’s parents. This means you will need to dislodge the food by using the appropriate first aid methods appropriate for a choking child.

o   Your first step should be to administer 5 back blows to the child as per your first aid training. (RedCross.org, 2011).

o   If that fails to dislodge the cheese enough to resume normal function, then move on to abdominal thrusts (RedCross.org). These steps are repeated until: A: The lodged object is removed. B: The child can cough with force or C: The child becomes unconscious (RedCross.org).

o   If the child does become unconscious, then cease all attempts to dislodge the food and immediately begin CPR.

o   Once emergency personnel arrive and relieve you of your job, check with preschool director to verify what the next step is. Have they been able to reach the parents? Do you need to ride with the child to the hospital? Is there a back-up teacher available to cover your class? All of these questions will need to be addressed to ensure that the child remains in the care of the school until the parents are present (Robertson, 2013).

o   After the incident is over, fill out all necessary reports and paperwork (Robertson, 2013). During this time think back to the incident and decide if anything could have been done differently to avoid the choking in the first place. Do any changes need to be made to the emergency procedure? Now is the time to evaluate and make those necessary changes (Robertson).

Scenario 2:

There is a 5 year old child in your preschool class who is severely asthmatic. Due to allergens brought into the class by another child, the 5 year old has a major asthmatic episode and ceases to breathe.

Response:

·         Your first response should always be to act immediately and remain calm (Robertson, 2013).

·         It is evident that the child needs immediate assistance. You cannot wait for emergency personnel to arrive, nor can you wait to create a plan of action with the child’s parents. This means you will need to begin child appropriate CPR immediately.  

         

o   Ensure the child is on a firm, flat surface.

o   Begin proper CPR procedures for a child. This should ONLY be done by you if you are child CPR certified (Robertson, 2013).

o   911 must be called anytime CPR is performed. Continue to perform CPR until emergency personnel arrives.

o   Remember breathing emergencies are always life threatening (Robertson, 2013).

o   Once emergency personnel arrive and relieve you of your job, check with preschool director to verify what the next step is. Have they been able to reach the parents? Do you need to ride with the child to the hospital? Is there a back-up teacher available to cover your class? All of these questions will need to be addressed to ensure that the child remains in the care of the school until the parents are present (Robertson, 2013).

o   After the incident is over, fill out all necessary reports and paperwork (Robertson, 2013). During this time think back to the incident and decide if anything could have been done differently to avoid the choking in the first place. Do any changes need to be made to the emergency procedure? Now is the time to evaluate and make those necessary changes (Robertson).

With any emergency situation planning and proper training are critical. All teachers and school personnel should have training in basic CPR and first aid. Not only that, but at least one teacher at the school must be certified in CPR (Robertson, 2013). It is through the proper training and emergency understanding that can help a situation stay as calm as possible and ultimately save a child’s life. It also my opinion that even preschools should run annual drills to ensure that teachers are staying up to date on emergency protocols. Schools should constantly be evaluating their emergency procedures to ensure that they are current with what is recommended by larger emergency professionals.

Finally, schools should always make sure that any emergency contact information is up to date, and readily available in case of emergency. Are phone numbers valid and working? Is there a primary and secondary emergency contact for each child? Do parents have a full understanding what the school procedure is if there is an emergency? This is all critical in ensuring that an emergency situation is handled as smoothly as possible. Additionally, are all the first aid kits within the school easily accessible? Are they properly stocked and do teachers know where to locate them? All of these suggestions are simple ways to prepare for the event of a serious emergency at your school.

References:

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

RedCross.org (2011). Conscious Choking. Retrieved from: http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m4240176_ConsciousChokingPoster_EN.pdf