Warangal Boy Chokes To Death On Imported Chocolate, Measures To Minimise Risk Of Children Choking

WARANGAL: In a tragic incident, an eight-year-old boy died choking on a chocolate that got stuck in his throat. The heart-wrenching incident took place when the boy was in school at Pinnavari Street in Warangal on Sunday. According to reports, the deceased identified as Sandeep was studying class II at Sarada School. The boy’s father Kangar Singh gave the boy a piece of chocolate that he had brought from abroad. Sandeep was eating the chocolate and walked up to the first floor of his classroom while sucking on to the piece of sweet. He became unconscious and suddenly fell down in the class. The School management informed his father, who came and immediately rushed the boy to the hospital as the boy was suffering from severe breathing issues. Sandeep was taken to the MGM hospital, where the boy died while undergoing treatment and doctors said that the boy died as he was unable to breathe with the chocolate lodged in his throat. 

It is unfortunate that children fall prey to such choking hazards and such instances are not uncommon in India. Some edible items are choking hazards because of their size and shape and also if they are hard to chew and swallow. What people are unaware of is that a harmless piece of chocolate can also be dangerous for the main reason whether they are big or small they can go directly into the windpipe leading to choking and loss of breath.

A choking emergency can happen quickly and people around the victim will mostly be unaware of what is happening. The quick intake of breath which happens when you gasp while sucking on chocolate can push it from your mouth straight into your throat pipe or air passage.

A very important remedy is to place the child over your knee and give strong pats on the back which will help dislodge the sweet from the throat or the windpipe. Another aspect is to immediately rush the child to the nearest hospital for treatment and not waste time in waiting for the parents or caretakers to come and take the child to the hospital. Quickly responding when you come across a child or adult choking is invaluable and can be a lifesaver. In Sandeep's case if the school management took him to the hospital and not waited for his parents to come, might have saved the child.

Basic rules to minimise the risk of danger of choking.

DO NOT play games with food. Don't throw them in the air and catch them with your mouth or toss them into another person's mouth for fun. 

DO NOT engage in games or competitions involving food like panipuri eating or any other competitions which also involved eating or rather stuffing foods within a very short span of time. A cupcake-eating competition proved fatal for a Russian paramedic.

DO NOT try eating big bites or chunks of food. Try cutting them down into pieces and eating them. Even stuffing large portions of popcorn can be dangerous.

DO NOT talk, laugh or cry with food in your mouth. Apart from maintaining good manners, it can also help prevent you from choking.  

DO NOT eat or chew gum or chocolates while exercising, running, or doing any heavy form of workout.

There are some very smooth chocolates like small hardened toffees which can prove to be highly risky especially when you accidentally swallow them before you even chew on them. Try telling the child to be careful whilst suckling on them.

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