A Holmfirth woman saved the life of a choking baby.
And details of Angie Schofield’s actions in a Huddersfield restaurant come at the launch of a new national awareness campaign.
First aid charity St John Ambulance revealed more than four-fifths of West Yorkshire parents (81%) do not know how to save a baby from choking, despite four in 10 having witnessed such an incident.
The new research also showed the majority of parents name choking children as their greatest first aid fear and feel knowing first aid would help them feel better prepared.
St John Ambulance has launched a campaign that includes an animated advert showing what to do if an infant starts to choke.
In ‘The Chokeables’, the voices of comedians David Walliams, David Mitchell, Johnny Vegas and actor Sir John Hurt feature showing a doll giving first aid to a jelly baby choking on a peanut.
The campaign is backed parenting skills teacher, Ms Schofield, who had to put words into practice to save a baby from choking on a chip in a restaurant.
Angie, a senior manager for Huddersfield-based family support organisation Homestart, had taken a group of young mothers there with their babies. One mum gave her 9-month-old a chip to eat and he began to choke.
“His mum just froze,” said Angie, 43, who lives in Holmfirth.
“I just grabbed him out of the highchair, leaned him forward, gave him some back slaps and luckily the chip flew straight out.
“His mum just hugged and kissed her little boy. She was so relieved and grateful but she was also in a state of shock and needed to rest afterwards.
“I was amazed at how quickly I did it. I had thought I might panic in a situation like that but I’ve kept up to date with my training and that really helps. I just think it’s so important for people to learn first aid. It can save a life, can’t it?”
The new television advert will be shown over the next three months and St John Ambulance urges people to share it with friends and family online, so that as many people as possible can learn to save a life.
St John Ambulance has released new resources on its website to teach people life saving first aid skills. To watch the film and first aid advice, visit www.sja.org.uk/TheChokeables
What to do if a baby chokes
Check their mouth: If anything is there, carefully pick it out
If you can’t see anything you’ll need to start giving back blows
Back blows: Sit down and lay your baby face down along your thigh, supporting their head. Using the heel of your hand, give five sharp back blows between the shoulder blades. Turn them over and check their mouth again.
Chest thrusts:If back blows don’t work, try giving up to five chest thrusts. Hold them lying face up along your leg, put two fingers just below the level of their nipples
and push inwards and downwards towards the head
Repeat: Repeat the back blows and chest thrusts up to three times. If they’re still choking, call for an ambulance and then continue the back blows and chest thrusts
