How To Treat Unconscious Choking In An Adult Or Child
Unconscious choking can create an emergency situation. Learning to spot the symptoms of unconscious choking and react quickly to treat a victim of unconscious choking can help you save a life.
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Step 1:
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Breathing
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Rescuers should give the victim two breaths. If those breaths do NOT go in, the victim may be choking.
If the air doesn't go in, that could indicate one of two things. You may not have tilted the head back enough, or the person may be choking.
Tilt the head back and try 2 breaths again.
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Step 2:
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Compress
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If the breaths still do not go in, that indicates that the person is choking and requires compressions. Do 30 compressions, just like the CPR compressions.
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Step 3:
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Look
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Look in the mouth. Open the victim's mouth with your thumb.
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Step 4:
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Sweep
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Remove the obstruction with the hand that was on the forehead.
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Step 5:
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Breathe
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Give the person 2 breaths. If the air does go in, for child or infant, check the pulse and breathing and decide what step to follow. For an adult, once the breaths go in, look over the body, look for signs of life. If there are no signs of life, begin CPR.
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Step 6:
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Recovery
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If the victim shows signs of life, place them in the recovery position and wait for emergency personnel to arrive.
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Knowing the difference between an unconscious choking victim and a victim in cardiac arrest is important. So, we recommend you take a class and review these steps often.
