156 Adventures in Food and Nutrition
• Post a poison chart in your kitchen.
This chart tells you what to do if
someone swallows, inhales, or touches
a poison. You can get a poison chart
from a poison control center.
• Post the phone number of a poison
control center near your phone.
These centers have trained staff
who know how to deal with poison
emergencies. If you can't fi nd the
poison control center's number in
the phone book, check with your
local hospital.
• Get medical help right away if some-
one is poisoned. Have the poison's
container nearby when you call the
poison control center. Take the con-
tainer with you to the hospital. The
medical staff will need information
from its label.
To Prevent Choking
A person chokes when an object
becomes trapped in his or her throat. This
blocks off the flow of air into the lungs. When
air cannot reach the lungs, a person suf-
focates. Slippery, round foods, such as hot
dogs, grapes, and hard candy, are the most
common cause of choking. Hard foods, such
as nuts, and thick foods, such as peanut
butter, also are common causes of choking.
If choking does occur, fast action is
needed. A person can die of suffocation in
four minutes. A person is choking when he
or she looks alarmed and can’t talk, cough,
or breathe. Some choking victims give the
distress signal for choking. This signal is
clutching the neck.
Here’s what you can do to prevent
choking.
• Take small bites. The larger the
bite, the greater the chance you
will choke. Chew each bite well.
Tiny bits of food are easy to
swallow. They aren't likely to get
stuck in your throat.
• Sit down to eat. Running or talking
while eating may cause you to swal-
low before food is well chewed.
• Avoid eating in the car. If you start to
choke, it is diffi cult for others to give
you aid in the car. Also, it takes time
for the driver to pull off the road to
assist you.
• Small children often don't chew food
as well as they should. Avoid giving
them foods that can choke them.
These foods include grapes, carrots,
popcorn, nuts, hot dogs, and hard
candies. Peanut butter should be
spread thinly on crackers or toast.
(Toast is preferable to fresh bread
because the combination of fresh
bread and peanut butter can cause
choking.) See 8-9.
8-9 8-9
Making Making
children sit while they are eating and children sit while they are eating and
encouraging them to chew their foodfood encouraging them to chew their
well can help prevent choking.choking. well can help prevent
Enrich: Invite an emergency medical technician from the local
fi re or ambulance squad to talk about choking prevention. Ask the
technician to demonstrate the abdominal thrust and CPR.