Why should I buy a pen with a hole in the cap for my child? When buying stationery, parents must pay attention to this detail

When buying pens for your children, have you noticed that many pen caps have small holes? Have you ever thought about what the small hole in the pen is used for? Don\’t underestimate this small hole, because it can \”save lives\” at critical moments! The first time I saw this knowledge point, I felt that although it was small, it was very meaningful. I would like to share it with you today. After posting the article, I will go to the hospital with Xiaochuan. I may not have time to reply to the message. Please wait until I come back~ Some time ago, a heartbreaking news once again sounded the alarm for all parents: a 1-year-old and 5-month-old baby in Guangdong The baby died of suffocation due to foreign matter being inhaled into the trachea. This is a small metal part that doctors remove from your baby\’s body. After the baby can crawl and walk, parents really have to worry N times more! A curious baby will touch, lick, and even put it in his mouth to taste whatever he finds. It\’s how they perceive the world, but it can also be a life-threatening trigger. Data shows that the death rate among children due to stuck foreign objects accounts for 2% to 3%! Pediatric experts have summarized the top ten “foreign body killers” (picture below). It\’s really scary to look at. The baby will definitely suffer a lot if he swallows these things. It is worth noting that among them, pen caps rank fourth, even higher than buttons, which many people think are more likely to be swallowed by mistake. Children around school age often have to deal with pens, and many children have the bad habit of putting pen caps in their mouths, which poses a potential risk of pen cap inhalation. It has been reported in the literature that pen caps can account for 3% to 8% of non-food foreign body inhalations. Pen caps are also listed among the everyday items listed by the American Academy of Pediatrics that may cause suffocation in children. Inhalation of foreign matter is quite dangerous. If the main airway is blocked, the ensuing suffocation will quickly cause damage to the body. As long as the hypoxia caused by suffocation lasts for more than 4 minutes, it can cause irreversible brain damage or even death. In order to prevent this risk, the state has made mandatory regulations on the design and production of pen caps. According to the provisions of the \”National Standards of the People\’s Republic of China – General Safety Requirements for Student Supplies\”, the caps of writing pens, markers, correction pens and watercolor pens should comply with at least one of the following three provisions: 1. The pen cap size is large enough (When vertically entering a gauge with a diameter of 16 mm, the non-passing part is larger than 5 mm) 2. There needs to be a continuous air channel of at least 6.8 square millimeters on the pen cap body. Air passages can be provided by raised parts such as pen clips. 3. The pen cap should have a minimum ventilation volume of 8 liters/minute at room temperature with a maximum pressure difference of 1.33 kPa. In fact, similar regulations are not unique to China. The safety technical indicators of these pen caps are based on the standards in the International Organization for Standardization ISO 11540:1993 \”Caps on Writing Pens and Markers – Safety Requirements\”. Pay attention to the second point – this is why we can see a small hole on many pen caps. At critical moments, it can \”save lives\”. Since the size and shape of the pen cap are particularly \”fit\” with the human respiratory tract, it may tightly block the respiratory tract. At the same time, because the surface is smooth and the material is hard, the difficulty of rescue is greatly increased. If the pen cap is accidentally swallowed by a child, it can still ensure adequate circulation.The air volume can be breathed when it is stuck in the throat, and more rescue space can be obtained in the event of an accident. Regarding this point, let’s look at a real case: a 9-year-old child went to Miami Children’s Hospital in the United States due to upper respiratory tract symptoms. The child had swallowed a plastic pen cap before, but no abnormality was found on the X-ray (X-rays may not detect plastic pen caps). After that, the child continued to cough and developed asthma. The hospital decided to perform bronchoscopic foreign body forceps removal. During the operation, the doctor discovered a plastic cylindrical foreign object that completely blocked the respiratory tract – it was a pen cap. Left: The pen cap in the trachea of ​​this case, photographed through a bronchoscope. Right: The pen cap removed. Let’s take a look at an experiment about pen caps with and without air holes: The experimenter used a rubber tube to simulate the human respiratory tract, inserted a pen cap without air holes at the top into the tube, simulated the situation of a person accidentally swallowing the pen cap, and then Inflate one end of the hose. As a result, almost no gas was ejected from the other end, and the rubber tube was completely blocked. When a pen cap with an air hole at the top was inserted into a hose for an experiment, gas spurted out from the other end of the hose. If the rubber tube is the respiratory tract and the child accidentally swallows a non-porous pen cap, the consequences will be disastrous. Ventilating with stoma can indeed reduce the risk of suffocation. The chest will still rise and fall, but ventilation can be ensured. At this time, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible. Without a vent, the chest will not rise and fall at all, and there will be no ventilation. It will cause cardiac arrest in 3-4 minutes, leading to death, and there will be no time to send the patient to the hospital for rescue. Therefore, when choosing stationery for your children, in addition to environmentally friendly materials and fine workmanship, the risk of suffocation is also a factor that needs to be carefully considered. Never buy a pen for your child with a small pen cap, no ventilation hole or a protruding pen clip! In addition, if you see your child having the bad habit of biting the pen cap, stop it immediately to nip the risk in the bud. Parents cannot keep an eye on their children all the time. The best way to prevent accidental swallowing of foreign objects is to put away all risky small parts at home. In case your child gets stuck in the trachea and is suffocated, it is recommended to seek medical help directly. However, correctly mastering the following first aid methods may help your child buy some valuable time before the doctor\’s rescue arrives. Method 1 Under normal circumstances, for children over two years old, the Heimlich maneuver is a magic weapon to rescue foreign body obstruction. The rescuer hugs the patient\’s abdomen from behind, makes a fist with one hand, and places the thumb side on the patient\’s abdomen (slightly above the navel); holds the fisted hand with the other hand, and compresses the patient\’s abdomen rapidly and inward and upward, repeatedly and rhythmically. Perform it vigorously to flush out the foreign matter with the airflow formed. Method 2: First pat the baby on the back: turn the baby over so that it faces down, let the baby lie on the rescuer\’s arm, then support the baby\’s head and neck with your palms, and use your thighs against the arms for support. The baby\’s head must be lower than the rest of the body, and then the heel of the hand is used to tap the baby\’s back between the shoulder blades decisively and forcefully 5 times. The gravity of the foreign object and the momentum of the air in the chest cavity during tapping are used to expel the foreign object. Back chest compression: If the foreign body is not discharged by the above methods, turn the baby over, face up on the rescuer\’s arm, and support it with the palm of your hand.Hold his head and neck, and then use his legs to support his arms. With the baby\’s head lower than the rest of the body, use the index and middle fingers of both hands as \”squeezers\”. Place your fingertips one finger down from the midpoint of the baby\’s nipples, and quickly and gently squeeze inward and upward. Press the chest 5 times continuously to expel the foreign body. If the foreign body is still not discharged, you need to continuously repeat the back patting and chest pressing movements until the foreign body is discharged. Method 3: Supine abdominal impact method: If the child is unconscious and lying on the ground, take a supine position, first open the child\’s airway, then the rescuer straddles the outside of the child\’s thigh, and presses the area between the navel and xiphoid process with the heel of one hand. , the other palm covers this palm, and performs impactful and rapid pressure forward and upward, and repeats until the foreign body is discharged. In addition, doctors remind parents that there are four other things parents should not do after their children accidentally swallow a foreign body: 1. Do not pick out the foreign body with your hands. If you cannot clearly see the foreign body in the throat, do not blindly pick it out with your fingers to avoid causing the baby\’s nausea reflex and Throat injury and edema. 2. It is not recommended to induce vomiting. Sharp foreign objects may cause secondary damage to the esophagus, and vomiting may also cause aspiration. 3. Catharsis is not recommended. Catharsis is generally not recommended. As long as the child can defecate normally, it can usually be resolved. It is not worth it to cause diarrhea, intestinal spasms, intestinal dysfunction, etc. in the child in order to expel foreign matter. 4. Vinegar and steamed buns are useless. Some parents will drink vinegar when their children have stuck bones, or swallow it with a big mouthful of steamed buns, which is also wrong. Drinking vinegar cannot effectively soften bones; forcing stuck foreign objects to swallow with steamed buns can easily damage the esophageal mucosa.