ASL Roma F, in family counseling centers lessons on pediatric disostruction maneuvers

With the’agreement between the ASL RMF and the training center “The Right Move” of Salvamento Academy, since October 2014, an awareness campaign has begun and is continuing, targeting the entire population, on the maneuvers that can save a child in case of choking.

The’initiative consists of several specific lectures, also in close collaboration with our practitioners, at some counseling centers of ASL ROMA F in S. Marinella, Civitavecchia, Cerveteri, Bracciano, Manziana, Anguillara, Morlupo and Ladispoli.

Statistics bring us alarming data (50 children die each year from suffocation) and among household accidents, pediatric foreign body inhalation represents an event that ranks, even today, among those occurring within the first 4 years of life. More than 90 percent of suffocation deaths from foreign body inhalation occur before the age of 5 years and 65 percent of victims are under one year old.

In this age group, numerous factors can predispose to inhalation of a foreign body: the child’s attitude of carrying all objects of interest in the mouth, the habit of playing and running while eating or otherwise holding an object between the lips or in the mouth, chewing and swallowing not yet well coordinated in younger children.

In Italy every year more than 50 families are destroyed by the death of a child due to choking on a foreign body (2007 data from the Italian Society of Pediatrics): a silent tragedy that kills about one child per week and that could be avoided thanks to simple and correct information/training on what to do to prevent the accident and what to put in place in the immediate, should the accident occur.

Hence the desire to improve knowledge in the area of airway disobstruction maneuvers, maneuvers that can truly save a child’s life, by addressing the people entrusted with the safety of our children every day, from parents to grandparents, babysitters, nursery staff and caregivers of children with disabilities, to kindergarten and elementary school teachers.

Thanks to the willingness of the family counseling centers that have provided the premises and staff, thanks to the ASL RMF and in particular Dr. Franco De Luca who immediately recognized the’importance of this project, and thanks to the instructors of “la Mossa Giusta” who made their time and professionalism available, from October 2014 to May 2015, 33 free classes were held, and 315 people were trained with theoretical-practical lessons, during which the focus was placed on the most dangerous foods and objects, prevention (fundamental in pediatric age), and practical testing on dummies in the two pediatric age groups (infant and child).

Because the safety of children passes necessarily by the awareness and knowledge of basic first aid concepts of the adults who are close to them on a daily basis.