Speech therapists from Primary Care of the Lanzarote Health Area, attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, have participated in a course on action techniques in the event of airway obstruction or choking in the pediatric population. Organized by the Training Unit of the Health Management, the course aims to "provide professionals from Primary Care centers with the knowledge and skills necessary to act safely and quickly" in this type of situation.
Training and knowledge about airway obstruction is essential, and sometimes of vital importance, for speech therapy professionals who treat pathologies that present with swallowing difficulties and work in their practice with vulnerable, pediatric and adult populations, who have "a higher risk of choking due to dysphagia and other pathologies" related to anatomical and functional neurological development.
The course, taught by the instructor of the Canarian Health Service, Benjamín Nieves, helps to understand the anatomy and physiology of the airways and swallowing, as well as to recognize the signs of choking. The training aims to enable Speech Therapy professionals to intervene in emergency situations and offers the appropriate and safe action techniques to effectively address choking and its possible complications.
It should be noted that choking can occur during stimulation processes or in the adaptation of diets and the introduction of new foods in pediatric patients, so the course offers speech therapists useful tools that they can pass on to families, in order to avoid the tension that comes with an accident of these characteristics. The Primary Care speech therapists of the Lanzarote Health Area consult in the health centers of Titerroy and Valterra, in Arrecife, and in those of San Bartolomé and Tías.
