How to Rescue someone who is choking?

A person can have a great difficulty in breathing due to a blockage in the windpipe. This blockage can occur due to things such as food, toys or any other object. There have long discussions over the methods to rescue someone who is choking. What a person should do or must do has been discussed over the past decades. Whether they should raise their arm, should be patted on the back or left alone while emergency services are on their way.

There are no medical grounds for most of the suggestions given in certain articles. Some suggest that raising the arms above the head can help a choking person to breathe. Raising the arms above the head opens the diaphragm to allow lungs to inhale more air. This technique is only serviceable in the cases when people have difficulty in catching their breath after a strenuous workout session.  This fails for sure if a solid object is blocking the airway.

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Hitting on the back does not help either, moreover, it can cause the patient to startle and even sustain a back injury. The object obstructing the airway should be thrown out and not thrown into the stomach. Hitting the person on his back can make the latter to occur.

If you are to rescue a person choking, encourage them to cough and breathe the best they can. Do not leave them alone, call for emergency services as soon as possible. After informing the emergency services, start performing the only solution which holds its medical grounds. Heimlich maneuver is suggested by AHA in its latest guidelines to rescue a choking person.

Heimlich maneuver uses a quick and abdominal thrust to throw the obstruction in the airway upwards. It is performed differently on the adults and on the babies or pregnant women. For performing Heimlich maneuver make a fist with one hand. Put your arms around the person and grasp your fist with your other hand just below the ribs in the midline. Make a quick, hard movement inward and upward. This maneuver should be repeated until the person is able to breathe or loses consciousness.

You should get First aid and CPR certificate from any recognized American CPR training Institute to be able to perform such rescues.