I’d like to say I need this information as a vital plot point in a novel I’m writing, but I’m afraid it’s just dumb curiosity: if I’m choking on a piece of ice large enough to block my trachea - let’s say peanut sized or slightly larger - will it, ahem, melt in my mouth before I have time to choke to death, or will I succumb to suffocation first?
My guess is it would melt and you would be fine.
I had a similar experience when I was eight. I accidentally inhaled the cherry lifesaver I was enjoying and it lodged in my airway. The hole allowed me to breathe; it dissolved before long and I made a full recovery in time for recess. It really freaked me out and I still remember the sensation of it being stuck there.
Hard to say, is it 30 degrees ice or -30 degrees. Having said that, the potential tissue injury from a hard cold object makes it worth trying the Heimlick. Of course, I don’t have a cite for that, it’s just an ER nurses opinion
If any size piece of ice melts in your MOUTH you can swallow the water.
If it falls into you windpipe/trachea you will probably need an emergency tracheostomy!
Why? It would simply be a case of inhaled water. People recover just fine from that all the time: e.g., people who almost drown.
I had this happen to me at the age of seven. My experience is that it eventually (a VERY long eventually in subjective time for me!, but likely only a small number of seconds in reality) disloged as it melted and changed shape enough for my attempts at coughing to get it to come out. However, had it been large enough, I doubt it would melt FAST enough for a person who remained upright to get enough air quickly enough to avoid potentially serious consequences. I would simply recommend turning self upside down and letting it slide out of the windpipe.