heimlich maneuver and pregnant women

[zwaldd]

can you perform the heimlich maneuver on a pregant woman? i sit caddy-corner to a pregnant woman who eats in her cube a lot and i need to know this in case she chokes on something.

[zwaldd]

i need an answer quick! she's eating a muffin now and laughing about something. my default plan is a tracheotomy unless i hear otherwise.

[tomndebb]

Yes. Put your jackknife and Bic pen away. The Heimlich maneuver calls for you to put the ball of your fist just below the sternum, several inches higher than the point where the child is dstending the abdomen. (If you've been grabbing people around the navel, you've been doing it wrong.)

[zwaldd]

hmmm. this still concerns me. my fist is several inches wide on both the palm side and the thumb side. putting my fist right below the sternum places the bottom of my thumb about 3 and a half inches lower on her abdomen. the woman who sits near me is in an early stage of pregnancy and she says that the organs get pushed up pretty high to accomodate the fetus so this seems like a dangerous place to be applying sudden forced pressure. there's another pregnant woman here who is almost ready to deliver and there is absolutely no space between the bottom of her sternum and her protruding belly. should i just try to push things out of the way before heimliching?

btw, i don't have a jacknife - i was just going to use the pen.

[cher3]

A sound concern apparently.

http://www.learn-cpr.com/cpr12-pregnant-chest-thrusts.html


You'd better be pretty sure she's choking, though. Otherwise you'll get a backhand with about 200 lbs. behind it.

[zwaldd]

good link. thanks cher3 - my pregnant coworkers will be indebted.

[Irishman]

Yes, I just took CPR a year ago. The policy for pregnant women is chest compressions. While it is not as effective as the abdominal compressions at relieving the blockage, it is safer for the fetus.

There are also variations for children and infants.

[Chronos]

Note that even for non-pregnant people, you should make certain that they are actually choking before using the Heimleich. If the victim can make any vocal noises at all (gasping, coughing, wheezing, etc.), it's generally considered safest to let them try to loosen the obstruction themself. There are genuine risks assosciated with performing the Heimleich maneuver on anyone; those risks are justified if the person is actually choking, but not otherwise.

[Phobos]

Originally posted by Irishman
Yes, I just took CPR a year ago. The policy for pregnant women is chest compressions. While it is not as effective as the abdominal compressions at relieving the blockage, it is safer for the fetus.


It's also safer than choking to death...for mom & baby :)