# Choking to death? I can't help you unless you consent or pass out **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 12, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402 "2022-12-12T17:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/21 "2022-12-12T18:40:52Z")
Moderating: > [@Munch](#): > > How did you find out? Was it some recreationally outraged MAGA snowflake on Facebook railing against “wokeness” into the echo-void where everyone just agrees with the poster without looking at the copyright stamp on the linked image? This is only one of several posts that is needlessly personal and aggressive. Discuss the content, not the commentator. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/22 "2022-12-12T18:46:46Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And like I said, the video I saw made so much about the set up to giving the Heimlich all I could think of was “She’d be dead by now if she were really choking.” Most people can voluntarily hold their breath, even with partially inflated lungs, for at least thirty seconds before they start to get hungry for fresh air. And while it becomes very unpleasant at some point after that, such people can continue to hold their breath for quite a bit longer before losing consciousness. That’s a pretty big window in which to calm a subject down and confirm whether they need/want assistance. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/23 "2022-12-12T18:46:57Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Is this wokeness run amok or entirely appropriate? This is entirely appropriate. You shouldn’t touch a conscious person without their consent. If someone can shake their head “no” in response to your question (“do you want me to attempt the heimlich maneuver?”, or whatever) then they are not on the verge of death. As a practical matter, there are lots of situations that look like choking but aren’t life-threatening, and people who have those conditions are completely competent to tell you not to touch them. And yes, of course people can nod, gesture, and otherwise say “yes” or “no” when they can’t speak. And you can seriously hurt someone attempting to compress their chest. That’s not something you should do to someone who doesn’t need it. As a practical matter, there are other conditions, like hypothermia, where a person becomes disoriented and irrational a long time before they actually pass out, and they may refuse help that they actually need. My wilderness first aid instructor did, in fact, recommend following a person you suspect of hypothermia who refused help, so that you can help them after they pass out. But for choking that’s not really an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/24 "2022-12-12T20:12:34Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > But thank you for assuming I had seen it. Anything else I’ve seen before that I should know about? So you got offended and linked to the poster _without_ actually seeing it? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/25 "2022-12-12T20:19:53Z")
I like how everybody is dogpilling on this guy but then when certain users defend human slavery here literally the same posters are too afraid of saying anything because they’re a 20 year poster and somehow can get the mods to delete all criticism of them. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/26 "2022-12-12T20:41:20Z")
I hate to feed this hijack, but who is defending slavery and not being called out for it? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/27 "2022-12-12T20:44:35Z")
You absolutely need consent, and there’s nothing woke about it. I used to be subject to occasional [laryngospasm](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22406-laryngospasm) due to acid reflux. Way back when in the late 1970s I was at work, sitting at my bench when a spasm hit. I had established techniques to relax my vocal cords and get back to breathing, but someone decided I needed a Heimlich and jumped into action. The only thing more difficult than clearing a laryngospasm is clearing one while giving some well meaning asshole a piggyback ride. Fortunately he was smaller than average, and wasn’t able to interfere enough to kill me, but if our size discrepancy had been reversed he might have. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/28 "2022-12-12T20:44:49Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > We were told to ask, “Are you choking?” to get them to speak (not choking) and if they couldn’t speak then assume choking. Even so, choking but conscious doesn’t imply consent. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/29 "2022-12-12T20:47:40Z")
Moderating: > [@Asuka](#): > > I like how everybody is dogpilling on this guy but then when certain users defend human slavery here literally the same posters are too afraid of saying anything because they’re a 20 year poster and somehow can get the mods to delete all criticism of them. This is a needlessly provocative post that adds nothing to the discussion except to serve as a hijack. Knock it off. If you have opinions about what you perceive as unfair moderation, post them in ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/30 "2022-12-12T20:56:27Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And before anyone asks, yes it was a (I guess) Red Cross instructor the school hired for us coaches. What grade are you coaching? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/31 "2022-12-13T01:39:43Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > My training must have really sucked then. We were told to ask, “Are you choking?” No, I’m serious, damn it! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/32 "2022-12-13T01:53:14Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > That poster is from 2011. Hey, wokeness has been a scourge since before people realize. 2012, 2011 easy. (BTW, I’ve heard “woke” defined as the acknowledgement/understanding that there is systematic racism in the USA. If that’s what those that use the term mean, I’m puzzled what it has to do with common consent.) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/33 "2022-12-13T16:47:15Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > BTW, I’ve heard “woke” defined as the acknowledgement/understanding that there is systematic racism in the USA. > Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination”. {…} > The phrase stay woke had emerged in AAVE by the 1930s, in some contexts referring to an awareness of the social and political issues affecting African Americans. The phrase was uttered in a recording by Lead Belly {…} > [Woke - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke) Lead Belly being a well known rap artist from the 1900s of course. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402/34 "2022-12-13T17:07:34Z")
I do (very vaguely) recall from some Red Cross training that you are supposed to ask the person if they are OK and whether they need help before laying hands on them to perform any procedures. Once I was talking to a woman and she fainted dead away in mid-sentence. I caught her before she hit her head on anything and carried her over to a sofa. Then I tried talking to her, but she did not respond. She woke up after a minute, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choking-to-death-i-cant-help-you-unless-you-consent-or-pass-out/976402.md?page=1)