FIRST call 911 or call or gesture for HELP!

If you are RIGHT about this, things could get worse in a hurry, and

you or the choking person [or both] will need expert HELP!

A PERSON who is choking will usually

look like this with one or both hands at their throat!

They will also be trying to make a sound or breathe

with poor success at either!

Don't just wait for help or an ambulance, HELP

the person [or yourself] to dislodge what is choking

them! ...They could be dead before anyone else

arrives!...IMPORTANT: If the choking person is

breathing, however poorly, and is not turning

"blue" don't do anything stupid, like moving some-

thing half-choking them to where it fully chokes

them!...And also, people with Heart Attacks, Asthma Attacks, and

Convulsions may appear to be choking, when that is not their problem.SECOND, remove the obstructing object,

if this object is easy to grasp, and you know what

it is! Frequently people are eating when they

choke; liquids will be expelled by violent coughing,

which is automatic...something large lodged in

the throat may need some help...Sooner is better than

later if you can firmly grasp the object and remove it..If such an effort

makes things worse, and the victim can breathe, wait for expert help!...

If efforts to remove an obvious obstruction

to breathing are not successful, and the victim is

"passing out" or about to do so, the so-called

Heimlich maneuver may be tried, and sometimes

is successful...This technique is no "magic bullet"

and is no longer shown in RESCUE books, but that

may be because rescue squads are not there until

later, much too late to use it!

Technique: If someone else is the victim,

and still standing, while behind the person, grasp

him or her around the waist while holding your

own hands firmly together, and pull hard into their

abdomen quickly, as quick as a cough would be....

IMPORTANT: The abdomen [belly] should be the object of

the force supplied, not the chest and ribs...ribs could otherwise be

cracked or broken...the idea is to force the diaphragm up, as in a

cough!....In other positions, attempt to do the same thing, put sudden

pressure on the belly or abdomen to act like a cough...if the victim has

fallen this can be done if you are clever...

If you know how to do this, or are reading this as

you are choking...you can grasp your own abdomen

and yank hard and quickly..don't be timid...or even

arrange to fall against something that will compress

your abdomen....As the saying goes, "The life you save may be

your own." ...If you break something, it will heal...If you are still alive!