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On Tuesday, April 9, the Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) and LifeVac hosted a choking awareness program for Autism Awareness Month.
DDI and LifeVac have been working together for the past year. The awareness session was focused on explaining choking risks, especially within the special needs community. Annually choking takes the lives of tens of thousands of people with various disabilities including autism, Down syndrome and severe learning disabilities.
"For children and adults with autism and other disabilities, choking is a leading cause of injury and death,” said Anthony Lambroia the account executive at Corbett Public Relations. “Individuals with autism are 11 times more likely to die from choking or other respiratory-related conditions.”
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During the program, the DDI and LifeVac staff gave demonstrations on how to prevent choking. Some of which included food preparations through thickening liquids and exact measurements and using LifeVac’s emergency devices to show how to save someone from choking.
They provide robust training for children to prevent choking incidents. The staff had been trained for diet consistencies and how to prepare food for people with modified diets. In addition, LifeVac had presented their emergency devices including their suction device, pediatric masks and practice masks, and choking prevention tips.
“By having our partnership with LifeVac, we are able to provide access to the critical device should we ever need in the event of a choking emergency," said Gazette Prescott, the chief programming officer of DDI.
To learn more about choking prevention, visit the DDI and LifeVac websites.
