Mathew Futch
Staff Reporter
Have you ever wondered how invisible you are, as in how quickly you can go without any warning? According to statista.com, “every year since 2,000, over 4,000 people die in a year from choking alone, and in recent years the trend has been over 5,000”.
It recently has come to my attention how scary this can really be. I recently had a choking incident in the comfort of my own bed, which made me wonder how often this really happens. Well, it brought relief that the death rate of choking is nothing to worry about as it is such a small percentage. The people who do die from choking are usually people who live alone and cannot get help. In fact, according to nsc.org, “Of the 5,051 people who died from choking in 2015, 2,848 were older than 74.” The elderly are more often alone in their houses so they are at greater risk.
Though as you could tell, this is not the total amount because people of all ages can die from choking. Besides elders, infants and babies have the second-highest amount of deaths. As mayoclinic.org says, “It takes time for babies to master the ability to chew and swallow food, and babies might not be able to cough forcefully enough to dislodge an airway obstruction.” Another reason young children may die is because they do not know what is happening.
For me, a fifteen-year-old, it took me about twenty seconds to realize what was going on. According to menshealth.com, “Oxygen stored in the lungs can keep you alive for several minutes if your breathing is blocked. But if you don’t get the obstruction—the food—removed within four to six minutes, your brain can start to suffer serious damage. Irreversible brain death occurs in about ten minutes.” Now, you can imagine where this issue can occur. I am no expert or anything, but I would believe that a young child would not be able to process what is happening in time. Personally, my body started feeling a little weak when I was getting help, so most likely after about a minute of choking. I see how this could affect younger children to where they will not register in time how this is affecting them or what is going on.
Choking may not be commonly feared or let alone brought up, but it is certainly scary how fast it can happen. Once it gets stuck, an adult has about ten minutes before they die. This issue needs to be taught about so that people can learn how to save others from this simple and avoidable death. Be careful of your eating because choking can happen at any of your given meal times.
Image Credit: sibreena music rich on Unsplash
Commenti