choking happens when a person has a foreign body, usually food, stuck in the windpipe, which prevents normal breathing. Choking can cause brain damage and death, and even severe damage can happen within minutes. The Heimlich maneuver is the best known first aid technique for saving a person from suffocation. If you are alone and no one can come to your aid, you can perform it on yourself.
Steps
Step 1. Try coughing and spitting out the foreign object
If you can cough vigorously you will not have to perform the Heimlich maneuver. But if you are short of air, it is imperative to act quickly, to clear the obstruction before losing consciousness.
Step 2. Find a waist-high object that you can lean over
A chair, a table or any work surface.
Step 3. Make a hand punch
Place it on the abdomen, just above the navel. The placement of the fist is the same as in the traditional Heimlich maneuver.
Step 4. Hold the fist with the other hand
Step 5. Lean forward over your chosen solid object
Place your fists between the object and the abdomen.
Step 6. Move your fist towards you and up
Make a quick 'J' movement, in and up. Move your body against the solid object. This way you will be able to apply more force.
Step 7. Repeat until the foreign body has been removed
Advice
When the object is removed you should be able to return to normal breathing. If not, contact a doctor
Warnings
- Choking is a life threatening situation. You must act immediately.
- You could injure yourself in the ribs with this maneuver.
