Close your eyes for a moment, and imagine you are seated at the dinner table with your family. It’s a fantastic meal of eba with oha, efo riro or edikaikong (don’t scrunch up your face now), am getting somewhere. Suddenly, your younger sibling swallowed a rather large piece of stock fish, and now it’s stuck in his throat. What will you do? Let us consider some of your options:
- You panic, reach for the water jug, pour some into his tumbler and have him drink from it in the hopes it would help, or
- You calmly, but adroitly apply the skill you learnt here.
What is Choking?
Choking occurs when something gets stuck in your throat. Also, when a person’s airway suddenly gets blocked, either fully or partly, so that they can’t breathe
How Do You Know If Someone is Choking?
- Severe Choking: If they can’t make any noise, cough, spit, breath or they may even be making the universal choking sign – having both hands grabbing at their throat.
- Mild Choking: If someone is coughing, can still speak, cry or breath or making any sort of squeaking sound. It’s just the body trying to get the object out, and they will usually be able to clear the blockage themselves.
What Should You Do?
Observe to know if the person is conscious and choking, since this will determine your next step. Get someone else to go seek medical help, while you apply first aid by proceeding with these steps:
Mild Choking
- Encourage the person to keep coughing to try and clear the blockage
- Ask the person to try to spit out the object if it’s in their mouth
- Don’t put your fingers in their mouth to help them as they may bite you accidentally
- If coughing doesn’t work, start back blows, this process is highlighted below
Severe Choking: Back blows and Abdominal Thrusts
Back Blows: To help an adult or child over one year old:
- Stand behind the person and slightly to one side. Put your arm across their chest (that is diagonally)
- Have them bend forward at the waist so that the object blocking their airway will come out of their mouth, rather than moving further down
- Find the spot between the shoulder blades, and using the heel of your hand. (The heel is between the palm of your hand and your wrist), apply five really forceful back blows
- Check to see if the blockage has cleared
Abdominal Thrusts, also known as the Heimlich Manoeuver: If the above does not work, do these instead. These should not be given to babies under one year old or to pregnant women.
- Have them stand erect. Stand behind the person who is choking, and have them show you their navel or belly button
- Place your arms around their waist and bend them forward – this is to make the lodged object come out instead of going further in.
- Make a fist with your thumb sticking out, position it right above the belly button
- Put the other hand on top of your fist and give five abdominal thrusts – pull sharply inwards and upwards like you want to lift the person
- Repeat this movement up to five times
- If the person’s airway is still blocked after trying back blows and abdominal thrusts, get help immediately and continue with the cycles of five back blows and five abdominal thrusts until help arrives
To perform abdominal thrusts on yourself:
- First, if you’re alone and choking, call local emergency number immediately
- Then, although you’ll be unable to effectively deliver back blows to yourself, you can still perform abdominal thrusts to dislodge the item
- Place a fist slightly above your navel
- Grasp your fist with the other hand and bend over a hard surface — a mid height table, counter top or chair will do. Shove your fist inward and upward
Want to read more about how to help pregnant women and infants who are choking? Click here
