May 3, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Halkidiki: a teenage girl saved a 10-year-old boy


The life of a 10-year-old child who nearly suffocated was saved thanks to the efforts of 16-year-old Marie Lazaridou, who revived the boy with the Heimlich maneuver.

The little boy swallowed three pieces of cucumber, which made him unable to breathe. A private doctor rushed to the scene along with Maria, who is the youngest teacher in Europe, KIDS SAVE LIVES reports in a post. Her actions saved the boy’s life. The incident was reported by the minor and her father, Konstantinos Lazaridis, a general practitioner and vice president of CHILDREN SAVE LIVES.

“We were told that a child in a nearby restaurant had choked and was suffocating. And my dad and I ran to help. We did what the protocol said, which was 5 back blows and 5 abdominal squeezes with a grip. After several attempts, the foreign body was removed and the child was saved,” the girl said. – First aid techniques have been familiar to me since I was 9 years old. The voluntary humanitarian organization “CHILDREN SAVE LIVES” came to our school. The interns taught me and my classmates how to give first aid, and since then we know what to do in an emergency. I really liked the course and I wanted to go into medicine.”

For his part, her father, Konstantinos Lazaridis, explained that in the organization “CHILDREN SAVE LIVES”, the guys learn how to use the protocol, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, helping with convulsive seizures, etc. We operate throughout Greece,” he said. “I was and still am a member of this organization, I am a member of the board of KIDS SAVE LIVES.” We have educated 130,000 or more people in all Greek schools. We are establishing contacts with the ministries of education and health, so that they will allow us to regularly conduct classes (course) on first aid. This is important because it saves human lives.”

In any case, he emphasized that exposure to potentially dangerous situations should be “starting from a young age.” “Children, like sponges, absorb knowledge and can better apply it. A person who has to study, learn and be certified in basic life training is doing a program lasting 4-6 hours, Mr. Lazaridis emphasized. – For this particular incident, due to her body type, if Maria had to deal with a person who is 2 meters tall and weighs 120 kg, it would not be the easiest thing in her life. However, often even a phone call at the right moment can save someone’s life.

Reference. Heimlich maneuver

When food or foreign bodies get into the trachea, it becomes blocked (in whole or in part) – the person suffocates.

Signs of airway obstruction:

  • Lack of complete breathing. If the windpipe is not completely blocked, the person coughs, if completely, he holds on to the throat.
  • Inability to speak.
  • Blueness of the skin of the face, swelling of the vessels of the neck.

Airway clearance is most often performed using the Heimlich method:

1. Stand behind the casualty.

2. Grab it with your hands, clasping them into a “lock”, just above the navel, under the costal arch.

3. Strongly press on the stomach of the victim, sharply bending the arms at the elbows. Do not apply pressure to the victim’s chest, except for pregnant women who apply pressure to the lower chest.

4. Repeat several times until the airways are clear.

If the victim has lost consciousness and fallen, lay him on his back, sit on his hips and with both hands press on the costal arches. To remove foreign bodies from the child’s respiratory tract, turn him on his stomach and pat 2-3 times between the shoulder blades. Be very careful. Even if the baby coughs quickly, see a doctor for a medical examination.



Source link

Verified by MonsterInsights