A 14-month-old Emirati baby girl choked to death on Tuesday evening in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah after a piece of chips she was eating got stuck in her throat.
The young victim, based in Wadi Shaam, could not breathe because the piece of chips blocked her trachea, according to sources.
“Though her parents tried hard to save her life and rushed her to the nearest hospital, she was in a critical condition when admitted.”
“The parents turned their baby girl upside down and slapped her back several times, but to no avail.”
The emergency duty doctors exerted their utmost effort and tried several times to resuscitate her, but unfortunately, she was shortly declared dead, they added.
“The young girl’s brain was deprived of oxygen for a long time due to the blocked airway, and her face turned blue due to lack of oxygen.”
The baby girl was moved to the morgue of the hospital and was later buried at the Al Waaeb cemetery.
The emirate of Fujairah, back in 2018, saw a similar case where a two-year-old Emirati baby boy choked after a piece of grape was stuck in his throat.
Dr. Engy Ziada, a specialist pediatrician, urged all parents to take first aid training courses to better deal with such emergencies.
“The life of any person will be dangerously affected if his or her brain is deprived of air for more than four minutes.”
She also advised parents to keep the hard materials away from their toddlers. “Parents should also cut fruit into small pieces when given to their children, and always observe them while eating.”
“If the baby turns blue, parents are advised to start CPR, and call the emergency services for help.”
Dr Dhiraj Sidagonda, a specialist pediatrician, told Khaleej Times that a child’s windpipe has almost the same diameter as a drinking straw.
“Parents need to be careful while feeding their children, and choose the right food, and keep items and toys out of reach.”
According to Injury Facts 2017, choking is the fourth leading cause of ‘unintentional injury’ death.
There are 100,000 unintentional childhood injuries, including choking, according to the Children Health and Environment Report by the World Health Organisation. The Middle East and the region have a whopping 40 per cent unintentional or related to choking incidents in children, whereas Europe, has 7.9-25.4 per cent, a year.
Global child injury deaths by choking, smothering, asphyxiation and animal bites for children aged 0-17 is 31.1 per cent. Moreover, 16.8 per cent of global child injury deaths are caused by drowning. Children under five years of age have the highest drowning mortality rates worldwide, with New Zealand and Canada as an exception.