This document provides information about choking, including how to prevent it, recognize the signs of choking, and how to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Choking is a life-threatening emergency, as someone can die within 4 minutes from suffocation. The Heimlich maneuver is an abdominal thrust performed by standing behind a conscious choking victim, wrapping your arms around their waist, making a fist above their navel, and thrusting upwards 5 times to dislodge any blockages in the airway. It is important to learn first aid for choking victims of different ages and states of consciousness.

2. Introduction
What happens when you choke?
How to prevent choking?
What are the signs to choking?
What do I do when someone’s choking?
What is the Heimlich maneuver?
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3. Choking is a life-threatening emergency. Someone can die in 4 minutes by suffocation. Every second counts. Often the victim will grab the throat with one or both hands when choking. Unless a victim is helped, loss of consciousness and death may follow. The action to clear a blocked airway is an abdominal thrust, also called the Heimlich maneuver. Described below is the technique for a conscious choking victim who is one year of age or older. Different steps must be taken if the victim is unconscious or pregnant, or if the victim is less than one year of age. You can learn the steps for these special situations in a first aid course.

4. Choking most often occurs during eating or drinking, when solid food lodges in the pharynx or larynx or when liquid is inhaled into the larynx and trachea. As a rule, the expulsive force of coughing is sufficient to remove the obstructions. Obstructions that cannot be coughed up may be removed manually or with a special instrument. If a completely obstructing object cannot be removed immediately, breathing may be restored by making a surgical opening in the trachea below the obstruction.

5.  take small bites, the larger you bite the
greater the chance u will choke.
 sit down and eat
 avoid eating in the car
 avoid giving little kids they can choke on
grapes, carrots, popcorn, nuts, hotdogs, and
hard candies.

6. The universal sign for choking is hands clutched to the throat. If the person doesn't give the signal, look for these indications:
Inability to talk
Difficulty breathing or noisy breathing
Inability to cough forcefully
Skin, lips and nails turning blue or dusky
Loss of consciousness

7.  Perform the abdominal thrust to help save someone
from choking
 if they are unconscious activate emergency medical
services ASAP open mouth and perform finger sweep
 open airway(head tilt-chin lift) and attempt to rescue
breath
 if unsuccessful perform abdominal thrust up to 5
times
 Abdominal thrust
 conscious victim
 ask if choking if they can speak cough breath don't
interfere
 if the victim cant breathe speak etc perform
abdominal thrust until the foreign body is expelled or
the victim becomes unconscious

8.  Stand behind the person. Wrap your arms
around the waist. Tip the person forward
slightly.
 Make a fist with one hand. Position it
slightly above the person's navel.
 Grasp the fist with the other hand. Press
hard into the abdomen with a quick, upward
thrust — as if trying to lift the person up.
 Perform a total of 5 abdominal thrusts, if
needed. If the blockage still isn't dislodged,
repeat the five-and-five cycle