Have you ever been so helpless to be unable to communicate your trouble even to the person standing right next to you? Have you ever been in the latter’s position and saw someone in the same trouble but felt helpless as to what should be done in such a scenario?
Well, such a situation occurs when a person’s air passage is obstructed by an unwanted object resulting in coughing or difficulty in speaking or breathing. This is also known as CHOKING. If you have also been a member of either of the two cases mentioned above, this piece of information is just for you. Through this, you will get an idea of what is the systematic procedure of dealing with such a helpless situation as choking.
How to identify that a person has choked himself up?
- The casualty might start coughing severely or gasp for proper breathing.
- Look for the ‘Universal Choking Sign,’ that is, hands clutched around the neck.
- The casualty might find it possible to utter a single word.
What to do when a person gets choked up?
Follow the given steps to help steer the casualty out of this troublesome experience:
- ENCOURAGE COUGHING
Ask the casualty to cough as heavily as possible. This will probably clear the throat off any obstruction and normalcy can be revived.
- BACK BLOWS
If the obstruction persists, try giving back blows with the heel of the hands between the shoulder blades. Also, keep checking the mouth to remove any visible object.
- ABDOMINAL THRUSTS
If none of the above works, try abdominal thrusts (or Heimlich maneuver) to relieve choking. The steps are as follows:
- Stand or kneel behind the casualty with your arms wrapped around his waist.
- Make a fist with one hand and place the thumb side of it against the victim’s abdomen slightly above the navel.
- Grab your fist with the other hand and press tightly inside the victim’s abdomen with an upward thrust.
- Repeat the upward abdominal thrusts and each with a distinct movement until the object is expelled from the air passage or the casualty becomes unresponsive.
- CALL FOR HELP
The motive should be to call for emergency services once you see the situation going out of hand and it’s always advisable to keep repeating the above steps till any medical help arrives.
*CAUTION*
Never use abdominal thrusts on pregnant or obese victims. Try using Chest thrusts instead!
Conclusion:
Choking can be a difficult situation to deal with but if you are well aware of all that’s mentioned here, you will definitely ace in reviving the victim with no major complexities.
