Someone who’s truly choking cannot breathe or tell you what’s happening. He’ll often grab at his throat, but it’s up to you to recognize the situation and act quickly.<\/p>\n

Call 911, or have someone call 911. If the person goes unconscious, you want professionals on the way.<\/p>\n

The Red Cross recommends using the \u201cfive-and-five\u201d approach to help a choking person. Give five back blows by leaning the victim forward and delivering five back blows between their shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. If the back blows don’t work, perform five Heimlich thrusts.<\/p>\n

Stand behind the victim and put your arms around his waist, with one fist below the ribs and above the navel, and your other hand covering your fist. Pull your fist upward and into the abdomen, pressing firmly with both hands.\u00a0Repeat the five-and-five until the food or object is expelled or the person becomes unconscious. If they become unconscious, you will want the professionals to take over and that is why calling 911 is so important.<\/p>\n

If you can’t reach around the person or he passes out, lay him on his back and then perform the maneuver while straddling his legs or hips.<\/p>\n

This technique can be used on adults and children one year old or older.<\/p>\n

If you’re dealing with a very small child or infant who is choking, cradle her in one arm and compress her chest with your fingertips five times, alternating this with turning her over and applying five firm slaps to her midback until the airway is cleared.<\/p>\n

While you can\u2019t give yourself the five back blows, you can still perform the Heimlich thrusts on yourself. Make a fist and place your thumb below your rib cage, just above the navel as you would when performing the Heimlich on someone else. Grasp your fist with your other hand. Press it into the area with a quick upward movement. If that doesn\u2019t work, you can also lean over a table edge, chair, or railing. Quickly thrust your upper belly area (upper abdomen) against the edge.<\/p>\n

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Someone who’s truly choking cannot breathe or tell you what’s happening. He’ll often grab at his throat, but it’s up to you to recognize the situation and act quickly. Call 911, or have someone call 911. If the person goes unconscious, you want professionals on the way. The Red Cross recommends using the \u201cfive-and-five\u201d approach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"\n