On the evening of December 3rd, a 60-year-old man in Renmin Road was suddenly choked by a piece of pig's trotter while having dinner at home. He soon stopped breathing and fell unconscious. Upon seeing this, his family hurriedly called the 120 emergency hotline for help and sent him to Hairen Hospital. The medical staff then removed two pieces of unchewed pig's trotter meat from deep within the old man's throat. After resuscitation, the old man gradually regained his heartbeat. However, due to prolonged oxygen deprivation, his brain cells were severely damaged. As of the time this article was written, the old man had not yet regained consciousness.
The Sixty-Year-Old Man Was Choked Unconscious by Pig Trotter
"A sixty-year-old man was choked unconscious by pig trotter and rushed to Hairen Hospital!" At around 8 p.m. on December 2nd, citizen Mr. Hou called our newspaper's hotline 96663 to report the incident.
Subsequently, the reporter arrived at Hairen Hospital, where the old man was still being resuscitated in the emergency room. Outside the emergency room, several relatives were anxiously waiting. Since he had not yet regained spontaneous breathing, the old man had to rely on a ventilator for assisted breathing. During the interview, the reporter learned that the old man surnamed Li, who lived on Renmin Road, was 66 years old and had previously suffered from cerebral thrombosis. At the time of the incident, the old man was eating dinner at home when, unexpectedly, after swallowing the pig trotter, he suddenly turned blue in the face due to suffocation and subsequently experienced difficulty breathing. His head then tilted to one side as he stopped breathing. Seeing this, his family immediately called the 120 emergency hotline for help.
Two Hours of Resuscitation Restored Heartbeat
"The medical staff removed two pieces of unchewed pig trotter from the old man's throat!" After receiving the report, the 120 emergency personnel quickly arrived at the old man's home and extracted a 3-centimeter-sized piece of pig trotter from his throat. However, since there was still another piece of pig trotter deep within his throat, they immediately sent the old man to Hairen Hospital.
"The medical staff later removed another 3-centimeter-sized piece of pig trotter from the old man's throat!" An informed person told the reporter that because the choking lasted too long, by the time the old man was brought to the hospital, his breathing and heartbeat had already ceased. Although after nearly two hours of resuscitation, the old man eventually regained his heartbeat, due to prolonged oxygen deprivation, his brain cells had been severely damaged, and he could only sustain life with the help of a ventilator.
On the afternoon of December 3rd, the reporter learned again from the hospital that the old man had recovered spontaneous breathing but remained unconscious. He still needed further observation and treatment at the hospital.
Three Key Points for Elderly Eating
"Seniors themselves have some degeneration in their swallowing function, making it easy for them to choke on food," Director Yu of the Emergency Department at the Third People's Hospital said. First, choose food that is easy to digest and swallow for seniors to eat; second, those who can sit up should eat upright, and those who can only lie down should eat in a semi-reclining position. Third, the eating environment must be quiet.
"If food like steamed buns or pig trotters can still be directly seen, they should be immediately removed from the throat using tweezers or similar items. If the food is too deep to see, abdominal compression should be used immediately to expel the food!" Director Yu said that the family members should immediately stand behind the senior, embrace their abdomen and apply pressure, forming a fist with one hand and placing the thumb side against the belly between the ribs and navel; the other hand grabs the fisted hand and rapidly presses upward. This will expel the food causing the choking. Meanwhile, the family should also quickly call 120 to send the senior to the hospital for treatment.
By reporter Bao Fuyu