To think that every parent should know paediatric first aid

[Mummyofthewildones]

Tonight was the single most terrifying experience of my life.
My DS3 choked. Like the proper, silent, gagging kind of choke. The first round of back slaps did nothing, he was not moving air.
Got him over my lap and another 5 hard back blows dislodged the offending piece of meat.
I was seconds away from telling my sister to call an ambulance. It happened a few hours ago and my blood is still running cold. I'm a nurse and have never had to help anyone choking before but thank god my brain remembered what to do.
I feel so sick. I know most people would roughly know what to do but if you aren't sure please please look it up, watch some videos or go on a training course to get familiar with it. I'm still shaking just thinking about it.

You’re absolutely right OP. Well done and thank goodness your DS is ok 💐

Agree. I know what to do. I had to do it many years ago on a child. I literally had to hold a child upside down and back slap until a sweet came out, parents and carers were clueless on it

YANBU. it's the sort of thing we used to do at the sure start/children's centers.

Im glad your DC is OK and that you knew what to do. That must have been terrifying.

YANBU. Our first baby isn't due until June but DH and I are both booked on a baby and child first aid course in April, it was one of the first baby related things we sorted out.

Thanks all.
It was absolutely terrifying. Big extra squeezes for him at bedtime tonight ❤️

How terrifying! You poor thing! I don't understand why people aren't keener to learn first aid, especially when they become parents.

Ah it's terrifying and I agree but I also think people should know first aid for any age!

My (now) husband choked on something a few weeks before our wedding. It was the only time I'd ever had to do abdominal thrusts on a real person and it was terrifying. I could see and feel him panicking and not breathing and our son was right there.
I've also had DS choke on banana before but it came out after a couple firm back slaps but still scary.

I'm the first aider at work by choice because I genuinely think I would have lost both if I hadn't known what to do.

@CatamaranViper Absolutely. I'm certain I saved his life tonight. Such a chilling feeling.

Been there myself. Absolutely terrifying. But because you know what to do, you do it. You just get on with it - and then you shake like a leaf afterwards.

Thank goodness for knowing first aid. I had been a work first aider years earlier, so I had some idea what to do. Everyone should be taught basic first aid.

Well done. Give your boy a hug and give yourself one, too.

Oddly I felt confident with DS that I could dislodge it where as with DH it felt more dangerous. Probably because he should have had the ability to avoid and dislodge choking, so for him to need intervention meant it was closer to the line.

YANBU

I did a first aid course at work and as we have children coming to visit, I mostly dealt with bumps and scrapes.

Until one day a man slipped on some wet leaves on the pavement outside. I was called to attend and he'd severed an artery in his temple.

I'd never seen such a deep pool of blood but I knew what to do and sprang into action. The ambulance took almost an hour to arrive and the ambulance crew said he'd have bled to death if it hadn't been for me.

But had it happened a few months earlier, I wouldn't have had a clue.

Like others, I think, in an ideal world, all of us should know first aid - for dc but also for adults.
However, who's to teach it? When ? How ? etc.
There are so many things it would be great if everyone learned.

That must have been so frightening for you OP. Great that you went into auto-first aid mode, but so upsetting afterwards when you go into shock and think about the 'what if's.

However, who's to teach it? When ? How ? etc.

There are so many free video tutorials online, they're honestly not that different to the courses my employers sent me on.

All you need to do is find someone to partner up with while watching.

Well done

I've been thinking about this all evening since it happened. I think it should happen every year in schools, and a TV ad campaign or social media ad campaign with some clear concise instructions.
I'm still shaken now.

We don't need TV ad campaigns now we have the internet.

Red Cross free course

First Aid for Free course

Both DH and I did a Pediatric first aid course during my pregnancy and went for a refresh when introducing solids (so it happened my pregnancy brain didn’t retain much info the first time round)

Oh well done. You did so well to remain calm and remember what to do.

Glad he is ok, that must have really shaken you up.

I agree it is important for parents to know what to do. I did paediatric first aid, CPR and choking both covered via my local children's centre when kids were small. It cost a small fee, but was well worth it.

I get regular basic life support training at work now.

I am hoping they make LifeVac devices available in community areas like defibrillators especially near where people are eating. I watched this video on YouTube where one saved a baby.

https://www.lifevac.uk/

<Trigger warning for video baby choking>

I'm not selling anything but these are incredible

www.lifevac.uk

Everyone should learn basic first aid. My late son would be alive if the person with him had just put him in the recovery position.
Ever year I post on the "going off to uni threads" advising parents to make sure their kids learn some first aid, find out how to get help/ find the A&E or walk in centre etc. It is so important when they are leaving home for the first time.
I am so glad your son is ok OP.

Yep, did exactly the same! The idea of being clueless in the face of an emergency with my baby was unfathomable.

I asked about Lifevac on the paediatric first aid refresher course I took last year. The trainer, who was a nurse, did not recommend them for 2 reasons. Firstly because they're so new and unregulated so it's not known what damage they might do, and secondly because she said while you're rushing off fetching it you're not delivering tried/tested/effective first aid in the form of back slaps and abdominal thrusts. I can't help but think they're still worth having though, just in case, but it should be understood they're a last resort rather than first port of call in a choking situation. It seems to me if you've already done a couple of rounds of heavy duty back slaps and abdominal thrusts and they haven't worked, the casualty is about to die anyway so there's nothing to be lost! It's not like you can expect an ambulance to be there any time soon these days.