The next time you're about to pour phenyl or cleaning acid from a five-litre can into an empty soft drink bottle, think again. Think when you leave a one-year-old with a bowlful of karasev , or in the vicinity of bottles that hold pepper and cashew. Think when you leave your diabetes and hypertension medicines lying around within easy reach of kids. They can turn drowsy due to a fall in blood sugar or BP.
All these have the potential to develop into near-fatal situations, warn doctors. A single peppercorn caught in the windpipe can leave a child gasping for breath, karasev can get aspirated, and a child might happily reach for the bottle of phenyl or acid thinking it is a soft drink. “We come across such cases very frequently. Children end up consuming kerosene, acid, floor cleaning liquid (especially those coloured pink and yellow, mistaking them for flavoured milk). Kerosene is lethal when kids ingest around 30 ml or more. Acid causes burning of the lips, the oral cavity and the stricture of the oesophagus (narrowing of the oesophagus, causing difficulty in swallowing), and can lead to major problems requiring surgical intervention such as dilatation of the food pipe in stages,” says Janani Sankar, senior consultant, Paediatric Medicine, Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital.
Safety first
The memory of children who ingested a foreign object and died before medical help could reach them still haunts consultant paediatrician P. Angeline Prema. “With children you can never be too safe. Steel clips, safety pins, needles, batteries, pencils… everything can cause damage. So can groundnut and roasted gram. Ensure your toddler is exposed to these things only when he/she can handle them. Most importantly, be around to rush in to help,” she says.
The trouble usually starts when kids learn to crawl and explore their surroundings. Make it safe for them and remove all things from the floor level, say doctors. Also, the elders at home should take care to label products so that children learn early on what they can touch and what they should stay away from.
So, what should parents do in case of such an accident? “Never induce vomiting in case of ingestion of acid. It causes more problems. Also, take along the drugs the child has consumed to the doctor,” says Dr. Janani.
Medical gastroenterologist V.G. Mohan Prasad, chairman, VGM Hospital, Coimbatore, has removed bizarre objects from the throat, oesophagus and stomachs of children. “Pins, coins, half-a-pencil … name it and I've taken them out,” he says. He wishes that once children are old enough to understand, parents must teach them the pitfalls of such explorations.
Before rushing a child to a doctor, you can always try to help. “Choking, difficulty in breathing and a child turning blue are indications that an object is blocking the airway. Here, you could use the Heimlich manoeuvre, if you are familiar with it. In case of smaller children, hold them upside down and tap them on the back. The offending object will mostly fall out,” says Dr. Mohan.
Most of all, he says. “Don't talk while eating. And, encourage your children to follow the habit. It can actually save lives.”
