Magen David Adom is warning the public to exercise caution in
eating fish and matzoh, both of which are very common on
Pesach, offering advice on how to avoid health problems due
to excessive matzoh consumption and/or choking on fish bones
hidden in fish.
Every year on Pesach there is a steep rise in the number of
people brought to the hospital, particularly young children
and elderly adults suffering from choking, or from stomach
pains due to excessive consumption of matzoh. In children
there are also instances of damage to the digestive tract
after swallowing small bones inside various fish. Magen David
Adom advises parents to carefully check the fish served to
their children.
Matzoh is also liable to be dangerous because of its hardness
and dryness. Excessive consumption can lead to choking and
digestive problems accompanied by sharp stomach pains.
The following are Magen David Adom's recommendations for
treating choking victims until Magen David Adom arrives:
Encourage the victim to cough. If the coughing does not work,
give the person short, sharp pats on the back between the
shoulder blades to try to dislodge the foreign object. Call
101 to summon Magen David Adom as soon as possible.
In the case of children do not try to dislodge a
foreign object by pushing in a finger, which is liable to
cause the object to get stuck further down. After encouraging
coughing and patting the back, open the child's mouth and if
you discern a foreign body inside, try to remove it with one
finger inside the mouth using a hooking motion. If the
foreign object is not expelled, begin artificial respiration,
and if necessary cardiac resuscitation as well, until Magen
David Adom arrives.
