They love to play with balloons and are almost essential in any children's party, but they also involve risks. Children try to inflate them and may end up swallowing them, clogging the airways. But they are also dangerous when they are swollen: if a little boy bites a balloon and takes a breath, he could suck it.
That is what could happen to a four year old boy from Olot (Girona) last Friday. He was playing with his three brothers at home when he swallowed a balloon, choked and began to show symptoms of not being able to breathe. The father transferred him to the Regional Hospital of Olot where, despite doing everything possible so that the child could breathe, including a tracheotomy, He ended up dying from airway obstruction.
Pediatricians remember that suffocation by inflatable balloons has become the leading cause of death from drowning related to objects other than food.
According to local media, the autopsy performed on the child has confirmed that the balloon was the cause of his death. The plastic was trapped in the child's trachea, just below the point where the doctors performed the trachetomy.
The danger of the balloons
This is unfortunately not the first case of suffocation with balloons. According to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) in its report "Major Accidents by Age", in 65% of cases that children suffering from obstruction of airways by external objects occurs in children aged one to three years and 80% They correspond to nuts.
In older children, aspirated objects are usually made of plastic. According to the AEP "Care must be taken with balloons and balloon pieces, they should not be brought to the mouth because they can obstruct the airway". And insists that "Balloons are dangerous, both swollen and non-swollen" When children are small.
In another of his reports, 'Foreign bodies in the respiratory tract', it is explained that although the danger of choking asphyxiation due to ingestion by small 'bodies', is more present in children under five years; another peak of incidence is observed at 11 years. Also, 29% of non-food foreign body aspiration deaths are caused by balloons.
In Babies and more, did you know that balloons can also cause aspiration accidents?How to act in case of suffocation?
We have all played with latex balloons and our children continue to do so. Perhaps until we see outcomes as serious as that of this little Olot, we are not aware of the dangers they entail.
We know that deflated balloons should not be left within the reach of children and, if they are punctured, all the pieces must be immediately removed. But sometimes we get confused. Knowing how to act immediately if we notice signs that our child is not doing well can save his life.
In Babies and more Nine tips to prevent asphyxiation by small objects in babies and childrenOur partner, Lola Rovati, explained to us how to act in case the child shows signs of suffocation.
If the child chokes on something he has swallowed, it is recommended that he cough to expel the piece that is obstructing the trachea. If it does not come out, you must apply the Heimlich maneuver to expel the object that is clogging the airways.
It consists of abdominal compression by placing the fist of one hand below the rib cage and above the navel.
With the other hand on top of the fist, it is necessary to press with a rapid upward movement so that the object that is blocking the airways comes out. If it does not come out, you must continue doing it again and again.
He warns that the pressure must be strong and fast, inward and upward, pushing until the foreign body that drowns the child comes out. If the child loses consciousness, the cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers must be initiated.
Hopefully you never have to use it, because seeing that your child has trouble breathing is really distressing. But, if that is the case, knowing how to do the Heimlich maneuver is helpful.
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