Georgia Injury Law Blog
Choking Is Still a Real Hazard for Children
In spite of concerted efforts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to make children’s toys safer and choking-hazard free, thousands of children suffer a choking injury every year. Many of these choking incidents will be serious enough to require treatment in the hospital. According to a study, death is a very real possibility for those children who are admitted to a hospital for choking on a toy part or food.
The study looked at child hospital discharge data in 2003, and specifically noted 2,800 admissions for choking. Researchers found that approximately one in about every 30 kids hospitalized for choking, actually died in the hospital. The study also had one very interesting fact for Atlanta personal injury lawyers– about 25% of all choking-related hospital admissions were caused by toys or other products that were in compliance with Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations for these products.
Most choking-related hospital admissions were linked to choking on nonfood objects with about 60% of the cases, and the remaining 40% linked to choking on food. Approximately 60% of hospital admissions were boys. Children of an average age of 2.5 or more were likely to choke on food, and children of an average age of 4.5 were more likely to choke on small detachable parts from toys.
Doctors used bronchoscopies in approximately 52% of the cases to remove the foreign object on the airways, followed by esophagoscopies and tracheotomies. However, they were much more likely to retrieve the foreign object using esophagoscopies than using bronchoscopies.
With these kinds of risks involved, prevention is the best way to avoid choking incidents in your children. Make sure that food pieces are chopped into tiny parts and only buy products that are commended for your child’s age group. Toys with detachable parts are not recommended for children below three years of age.