How is 'swallowing the tongue' when the impact is strong?

When a strong collision occurs, the muscle mass in the body drops, causing airway obstruction, obstructing breathing, causing death if not timely emergency.

According to Dr. Vu Tuong Lan, Emergency Medicine Department, Bach Mai Hospital, people normally cannot swallow their tongue. The reason is that there is a cross-shaped part in the human mouth, called tongue or tongue braking. Win the tongue-connected blade with the mouth and fix the tongue there. So the tongue is still only at the bottom of the mouth and you can never swallow your tongue.

The referee supports the player after a collision in a ball, to prevent the tongue from falling.(Photo: Duc Dong).

When a person has a strong impact, the tongue muscle system does not work according to the normal mechanism, the tongue will fall in to choke the airway, may even cause stomach contents into the lungs, obstructing the airways. Victims fall into oxygen deficiency, if not timely emergency can lead to death. Medicine is called a tongue drop or a drop in the tongue, swallowing the tongue.

In this case, the most basic management principle is to immediately clear the victim's airway by lying on the side, avoiding the tongue mass falling behind, especially for people with conscious disorders.

Can stab the victim with soft objects such as bandages, cloths ., avoid using spoons or coins to easily damage teeth, jaws .

Absolutely do not put your fingers in the mouth of the seizure to fix your tongue. According to Dr. Lan, human bite force ranges from 150 to 200 PSI (pound per square inch), almost equal to 105,000-140,000 kg (force) / m2. Therefore, using the hand to pry the victim's mouth while they are twitching may cause you to be bitten, even severely crushed by the finger tendon for both the patient and the first aid.

When giving first aid, do not give artificial respiration because the patient is prone to choking. Do not give food or drink to the victim, do not hold the mouth tightly and do not put anything in the patient's mouth.

In strong collision situations, attention should also be paid to cervical injury in the victim . Without expertise, poor handling can make the condition worse. First-aiders need to protect and brace the patient's cervical spine, or use medical supplies to protect the lives of patients.