It was on Christmas Eve, during a family gathering, when Joey grabbed a piece of hard candy and put it in his mouth.  Joey was only 2 years old. 

No one saw Joey take the candy. They were all actively enjoying the festivities.  Then in happened.  Joey’s dad noticed that he was very quiet and he was turning blue. 

Not knowing what was the cause of this, made for a more critical situation. 

However, Joey’s dad had recently taken a CPR class for work.  Everything he was seeing reminded him of the scenario that the instructor had talked about.    Joey’s dad immediately went into action.

He knelt down behind Joey, placed his fist between Joey’s ribcage and bellybutton and performed abdominal thrusts. He made sure not to lift Joey off the ground so that he was moving only the diaphragm.

Three thrusts in and the candy spewed out of his mouth!   Remembering what was taught in class, Joey was then taken to his doctor to get checked out.

What started out as a fun day, could have been tragic.  Thankfully Joey’s dad knew what to do!

Choking

Although children have the potential for choking on almost anything, according to the National Institute of Health the most common foods that children choke on are Hotdogs, grapes, and hard candy. 

Because the risk is so high, it is important to know what to do. 

Go to www.inpulsecpr.com and find a class near you. 

 You can never be too prepared!