At around 7:30 p.m. on October 4, after swallowing the last spoonful of rice, Mr. S suddenly turned purple and stopped breathing. The children immediately performed first aid vibrators and quickly took the patient to the Emergency Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
When admitted to the hospital, the patient was in a deep coma (3 points in glasgow), had weak light reflex, no pulse, and blood pressure could not be measured. Doctors immediately performed emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Peristaltic heart attack, Adrenalin injection and breathing tube pose. During the Tube placement, the doctors discovered that the foreign object that caused the airway obstruction was rice grains at dinner. After 20 minutes of effort, the patient had a pulse back.
Doctor Dang Hoang Diep, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said that airway congestion occurs when food, water or foreign objects enter the respiratory tract, causing congestion, making it impossible for patients to breathe. If not given timely emergency care, the patient could die in just a few minutes.
According to Dr. Diep, the elderly are at high risk of airway obstruction due to weak teeth, slow swallowing reflexes or diseases such as complications, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's... Therefore, during the eating and care process, special attention should be paid: Eat slowly, chew thoroughly, do not talk while eating. The elderly often have a slow swallowing reflex, if they eat quickly or eat while talking, it can easily get annoyed. In addition, you should choose soft, easy-to-swallow, water-y or hot pot foods such as porridge, soup, soft rice; avoid tough, hard, dried or crumbly dishes such as tendon, dried cake, sticky rice, roasted peanuts...
The doctor also recommends not eating when tired or lying down because when tired, the swallowing reflex is reduced. Elderly people should sit up straight with their head slightly bent when eating; Absolutely do not eat when lying down or lying half-sitting. For people with underlying diseases affecting swallowing, the family needs to observe carefully when eating, if they find coughing, purple, or shortness of breath - they must stop eating immediately and call 115 for emergency care. While waiting, family members need to know how to pat your back, squeeze your chest or squeeze your heart out of your chest to support.
