Choking and Suffocating

Tips to avoid choking and suffocating:
Keep plastic bags or any type of plastic wrapper away from small children and babies. Children under 6 should not play with small toys such as marbles, small balls, or balloons that are not inflated. Cut food into small pieces. Don't give hard candy or nuts to children under 6. Chew your food very well before you swallow it. Don't talk while you are eating or laughing. Don't eat too fast in order that you will chew the big pieces properly without choking. Don't run with food or another object in your mouth, you could trip, fall, and then choke on the thing in your mouth. Never put a pillow in a baby's crib or with a small child. It could suffocate them and they could die.

Here is how to take care of someone who is choking:
If someone is choking and coughing with a lot of force let that person try to cough up the object. If they stop coughing administer abdominal thrusts. To do this, stand behind the victim with your arms around them. Then make a fist with one hand and place the thumb side against the middle of the victim's abdomen just above the navel, but below the rib cage. Cover the fist with the other hand giving several quick, strong inward and upward thrusts to the victim's abdomen. This forces the air in the lungs to push the object out of the airway. Repeat until the object is forced out and the person can breathe.

If the victim is too big for you to reach around, give chest thrusts. These are the same as abdominal thrusts, but instead place your fist against the middle part of the victim's breastbone.

If you are alone and choking, you can give yourself abdominal thrusts with your hands or lean over and press your abdomen against the back of a chair, a railing, or a kitchen sink. Do not lean on anything with a sharp edge or corner.

Contents