Lunar New Year is a time for reunion, when families gather around the spring meal tray.
However, according to doctors at Khanh Hoa Provincial General Hospital, holidays and Tet are also times when cases of foreign object choking due to eating and living carelessly increase, especially in young children and the elderly.
In the Tet meal, familiar dishes such as boiled chicken, braised fish, and nuts such as watermelon seeds, pumpkin seeds... pose a risk of choking if the eater is subjective, eats hastily or eats while talking or laughing.
Typically, Ms. N.T. T's daughter (residing in Nha Trang ward) was stuck with watermelon seeds in her nostrils while sitting and chatting with her family. The child suddenly had difficulty breathing and cried loudly. Checking and finding watermelon seeds stuck deep in her nose, the family had to take the child to a medical facility for treatment. "Just a minute of neglect, young children are very likely to have accidents," Ms. T shared.
According to doctors, young children are a group prone to accidents due to the habit of eating while playing, running and jumping. Meanwhile, the elderly have reduced swallowing reflexes, weak teeth, and poor appetite, so the risk of foreign objects falling into the airways or getting stuck in the digestive tract is also higher.
Breathway foreign object aspiration usually manifests as a hoarse cough, shortness of breath, cyanosis, inability to speak, chest tightness. Digestive tract foreign objects can cause sore throat, bloating, pain behind the sternum. If not treated promptly, patients may face dangerous complications.
To prevent it, doctors recommend that people eat slowly, chew thoroughly, limit talking while eating; monitor young children during meals, do not let children suck on small toys or arbitrarily eat hard grains or bones.
When detecting a person showing signs of foreign object choking, do not arbitrarily hook their throat or give them water if the condition has not been determined, to avoid causing the foreign object to drift deeper. It is necessary to quickly take the patient to the nearest medical facility for safe treatment.
Tet is a time for reunion, no one wants the joy of reunion to be interrupted by an unexpected incident. Just being more careful in eating and living, each family has contributed to ensuring safety for loved ones," the hospital representative recommended.
