Section 3: CPR and Choking Emergencies

A four year old in a preschool setting has stopped breathing and is apparently choking on a piece of apple that has gotten stuck in her throat. I knew that I had to do something quick so I told my co-teacher to call 911 and to make sure that the other children in room are calm and sitting. I also told the co-teacher in the room to contact the little girl’s parents. I kept reminding the four year old that everything is alright and that I am here. Knowing that I took first aid and CPR training at our local fire department, I started doing the Heimlich remover on her. First, I wrapped my arm around her, and began to push up on her chest until the apple came flying out of her mouth. After her mom came to pick her up, I filled out an incident report and told what happened and what was done. Then I studied for a while to see what steps that my staff and I would need to follow to prevent any kind of incident from happening. A three year old in a preschool setting had just burned his arm in hot water and he has a first degree burn. I quickly began to compress the little boy’s arm with a cool towel to keep it from burning because it was already hurting him. Then I told another teacher to call his mom so she can come and pick him up and also try to make sure that the other children are calm and remain in their seats. I didn’t put a bandage on the child because I wanted it to air out and the child’s doctor to look at it. His mother came and picks him up and took him to the doctor so he can take a look at it. I started to fill out a report on the incident by telling what happened from beginning to end.
The reason why I feel that advance planning is often the best way to respond to an emergency situation it gives a teacher the understanding of remaining calm and to do what they have to do to prevent and injury. It also helps the educator to know what types of injuries or life-treating things to look for in order to prevent it from happening. I believe that educators need to know CPR and first-aid training as well because children as well as adults are prone to injury. It also helps them to know what to do when an emergency does occur.
The steps that adults would have to take to ensure they are prepared to handle these kinds of crisis, is to make sure that they have a first aid kit and everything that comes with it. They also need to make sure that they have the children care families/medical physicians information available when needed in case a situation does come up. The adult needs to make sure they have a folder of all the steps they need to perform first aid and CPR when ever needed.