What To Do & Not To Do When Someone Is Choking (VIDEO)

Angel here.  This past Sunday, my son Tucker got choked on a piece of candy from his Sunday school class.  The incident sparked a lot of questions I think parents and others would want answered.  What to do and not to do when someone is choking?  Do you know?

I have taken many first aid and CPR classes since I started working 20 something years ago.  Honestly, no amount of training can prepare you when you are looking into the face of your child and they are panicked or not breathing.

The most important thing I can tell you is to try and remain calm.  If you freak out they will too or it will put them under even more distress.

According to the NHS website, to help with mild choking in an adult or child over 1-year-old:

Mild choking: encourage them to cough

If the airway is only partly blocked, the person will usually be able to speak, cry, cough or breathe.

They'll usually be able to clear the blockage themselves.

Encourage them to keep coughing to try to clear the blockage
ask them to try to spit out the object if it's in their mouth
don't put your fingers in their mouth to help them as they may bite you accidentally

If coughing doesn't work, start back blows.
Severe choking: back blows and abdominal thrusts

Where choking is severe, the person won't be able to speak, cry, cough or breathe. Without help, they'll eventually become unconscious.

To carry out a back blow on an adult or child over 1-year-old:

Stand behind them and slightly to one side. Support their chest with 1 hand. Lean them forward so the object blocking their airway will come out of their mouth, rather than moving further down.
Give up to 5 sharp blows between their shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. The heel is between the palm of your hand and your wrist.
Check if the blockage has cleared.
If not, give up to 5 abdominal thrusts.

Thankfully my Tucker is safe.  I cannot imagine something happening to our baby.  He was very shaken up.  I have since shown him the universal sign for choking and told him the importance of completely chewing all his food.  His teacher called us later that day to tell us she had taken all hard candy out of the box.  We knew it wasn't their fault but taking all necessary steps to prevent choking is so smart especially when working with children.

Praying this helps others!