This past week I had the unpleasant and unfortunate experience of choking on a piece steak while on vacation. As I was turning blue a family member rushed in and gave me the Hemlich manuever – which solved this scary situation.
I hope I never expereince something like that again.
It got me thinking. . .
What can you do if you are by yourself and start choking? You can’t give yourself the Hemlich manuever. So what do you do? Sit around and wait to aphixiate?
I read somewhere (can’t recall where, unfortunately) that you can simulate the Heimlich by ramming your chest/diaphragm into like a table top or a chair back or something substantial like that. There was an episode of some show where a woman did something like that, but it could have just been faked. As I understand the point of Heimlich it is to force the food back out with muscular force rather than air. So the nearest surface where your own body weight against that portion of your body where the food got lodged would be worth a try.
It would scare you enough that running around would almost come naturally so you’d need to be in control long enough to think of how to deal with the situation. Not a time to get panicky. Easy to say; hard to do.
A very frightening experience for you. My mother-in-law choked to death on a Snickers bar while alone in her house. A sad end for anyone. Good advice above, plus one other: small bites and chew well.
I always assumed that I would stand up and then throw myself onto the floor on my back. I imagine this force might be enough to dislodge an obstruction but who knows…
Good point Turek, good thing I havn’t choked on anything in the last couple of years, I might of done myself in. Guess I’ll have to come up with a plan B.
People have done it, so it clearly is possible. Remember, if you can make some noise you are getting some oxygen. It may feel like you are suffocating, but in actuality you are probably getting enough oxygen to operate for a while. Plenty of time to self-Heimlich.
