Hit them firmly on their back with the heel of your hand between the shoulder blades. Hitting them on their back creates a strong vibration and pressure in the airway, which is often enough to dislodge the blockage. Dislodging the blockage will allow them to breathe again.
Back blows for children over 1 year
If back blows don't relieve the choking and your baby or child is still conscious, give chest thrusts to infants under 1 year or abdominal thrusts to children over 1 year. This will create an artificial cough, increasing pressure in the chest and helping to dislodge the object.
Support their chest with 1 hand. Lean them forward so the object blocking their airway will come out of their mouth, rather than moving further down. Give up to 5 sharp blows between their shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. The heel is between the palm of your hand and your wrist.
Ultimately, there is no scientific evidence proving that one method is more effective than the other. For a brief period in the 1980s, it was speculated that back blows might actually make a choking situation worse, potentially creating a total blockage.
1) When the American Red Cross introduced back blows to its official guidelines on treating choking, Dr Heimlich disagreed that back blows should be used and asked that his name be removed from the guidelines. Leading to the renaming of the Heimlich manouvre as an Abdominal thrust.
Yet, one of the recommendations, before the Heimlich maneuver came along, for saving choking victims was to slit open the trachea in the neck with a knife.
Infants (less than one year old) should receive a combination of backslaps (back blows) and chest thrusts. The Adult and Child Heimlich Maneuver (abdominal thrusts) is not recommended for use on infants 12 months or younger.
Mild Choking is due to a partial blockage. When this happens, the person might be able to speak and will be trying to cough. You might hear wheezing or a gagging sound. You should encourage them to cough hard to clear the blockage. In some cases, back blows with the heel of your hand can loosen the object.
First aid for choking if the person is conscious
Call triple zero (000). Bend the person well forward and give five back blows with the heel of your hand between their shoulderblades – checking if the blockage has been removed after each blow.
If a child is choking and coughing but can breathe and talk:
The child will likely be fine after a good coughing spell. Don't reach into the child's mouth to grab the object or even pat their back. Either of these steps could push the object farther down the airway and make the situation worse.
If a person is able to speak, cough or breathe, don't attempt the Heimlich maneuver. Encourage the person to keep coughing.
Children under age 5 are at greatest risk for choking injury and death.
“If the person choking is coughing forcefully, the cough might be enough to dislodge the object causing them to choke,” Kremer says. “Encourage the person to keep coughing and ask if they can talk. If they can talk, emergency help isn't necessary.” If the person can't speak, ask if they are choking.
Give up to five back blows: hold the baby face-down along your thigh with their head lower than their bottom. Hit them firmly on their back between the shoulder blades up to five times. If back blows do not dislodge the blockage, move on to step 2.
Give up to 5 quick thrusts, compressing the chest about 1/3 to ½ the depth of the chest—usually about 1.5 to 4 cm (0.5 to 1.5 inches) for each thrust. Continue to deliver 5 back blows followed by 5 chest thrusts until the object is dislodged or the infant becomes unconscious.
Here's how you can save your life with the Self-Heimlich: Position yourself behind a chair or on the edge of a table. Press your abdomen, the same area you'd place your fist on another person, against a table or chair with quick inward and upward thrusts. Repeat until the object is dislodged.
The pressure around the neck cuts off the flow of blood, resulting in blood congestion in the brain. The effect is lightheadedness due to the drop in oxygen levels and increase in carbon dioxide. For some this intensifies erotic pleasure.
Choking is an emergency that requires rapid recognition and treatment. The mortality rate due to choking is approximately 3.3%. The Heimlich maneuver is commonly used, with a success rate of 86.5%.
If the blockage is severe, they may be holding their chest or neck and won't be able to speak, breathe or cough, and you will need to help them. 2. Bend them forwards and give up to 5 back blows to try and dislodge the blockage. Hit them firmly on their back with the heel of your hand between the shoulder blades.
Phagophobia and swallowing phobia are other commonly used synonyms of choking phobia. It is of the utmost importance to differentiate it from organic dysphagia before labeling it to be of psychogenic origin.