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Three thousand restaurants across the country will be trained in basic actions to save lives in the event of choking.
The campaign called “SOS Respira” is an initiative of Fundación MAPFRE, in which the Federation of Cooks and Confectioners of Spain (FACYRE) and the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (SEMES).
The very clear objective, to reduce deaths due to obstruction of the airway, generally while eating in a restaurant, and this can be avoided in a simple way with a few simple maneuvers that will try to teach the members of the staff of the participating establishments, receiving a distinctive of “Local Committed” for display at the door.
The guidelines for action that must be taken into account in the event of choking, as well as contributing to making hotel and catering establishments safer against this type of accident, are the bases of SOS respira.
To give content and prestige to the training action, Chefs Mario Sandoval, Angel León and Samantha Vallejo-Nágera will be the ambassadors of this initiative.
Intervention in the establishment, key to saving lives
More than 1.400 people die each year in Spain due to choking, which occurs mainly when some food or object is accidentally trapped in the respiratory tract, preventing the passage of air into the lungs and causing suffocation.
Most of the obstructions that occur are mild, but others can cause a person to enter cardiorespiratory arrest due to lack of oxygen and die.
“A timely intervention can save many lives.”
To this end, the organizing entities will begin a campaign these days in more than 3.000 establishments in six Spanish cities, where health technicians trained by SEMES will teach hoteliers how to act quickly and effectively against choking using the Heimlich maneuver.
They will also convey to them that if the injured person can make sounds and cough loudly, it is a mild obstruction, a circumstance in which they should only be encouraged to cough forcefully. If the affected person cannot breathe, speak or make sounds, the cough is weak or non-existent and the skin begins to turn bluish, urgently call 112 and start the Heimlich maneuver.
Prevention is always a guarantee, also in the kitchen
Juan González Armengol, President of the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (SEMES), who participated in the event, stressed that the campaign will also affect basic prevention measures, such as:
- Cut the food into small pieces,
- Chew slowly and correctly, especially when wearing dentures.
- Do not eat while walking.
- Avoid excessive alcohol intake before and during meals.
He has also explained how to avoid an accident of this type in babies and children:
- Keeping marbles, beads, tacks, latex balloons and coins out of their reach, especially among children under 3 years of age.
- Avoid the little ones eating sausages, nuts, pieces of meat and cheese, grapes, hard or sticky sweets and popcorn.
Here is a link to the website of the SOS Respira campaign of the Mapfre Foundation, where it explains in detail the scope of the campaign and makes an app available to everyone that includes all cases of airway obstruction, paying special attention to infants and the specific maneuvers to be performed in the event of choking.