27-12-2013
Training on Occupational Health Environment and Safety
Occupational Health
First Aid Training for Choking
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
After completing this module you will be
able to
• Define Choking and explain how it is
caused
• Recognize and list the signs and
symptoms of choking
• Demonstrate the steps to provide first
aid for choking
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
What is Choking?
Choking occurs when a foreign object becomes lodged
in the throat or windpipe, blocking the flow of air and
causing
difficulty
in
breathing.
If
not
treated
immediately, it may even cause death.
Different process of first aid for choking is given to:
Choking prevents
breathing
• Adults
• Children
• Pregnant women /Obese people
• Unconscious people
Block in the airway by
a foreign body
• Self
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
1
27-12-2013
Causes of Choking
•
•
•
•
•
Incomplete chewing of food
Talking or Laughing while eating
Alcohol consumption (adults)
Swallowing big piece of food
Medical conditions like Parkinson’s disease,
etc.
Young children may also choke on
• Small objects like toys
• Hard candies , etc.
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
Signs and Symptoms of Choking in Adults
• The Universal Sign of choking is clutching the throat
• If you see this, immediately ask the person if he
is choking and administer first aid to the person
• If you are choking and cannot call for help, show
this sign.
• Other signs/symptoms of choking may include:
Universal Sign of Choking
Sudden
inability to
speak
Panic and hand
signals
Loss of
Consciousness
Coughing and
Gagging or
Wheezing
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
Signs and Symptoms in Infants
Difficult Breathing
Weak Cough
Weak Cry
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
2
27-12-2013
First Aid of Choking for Conscious Adults
Red Cross recommendation:
• Give 5 back blows
• Give 5 abdominal thrusts (Heimlich maneuver).
• Alternate between 5 blows and 5 thrusts until the blockage is
dislodged.
Step 2: Heimlich maneuver
Step 1
Back blows
Make a Fist
with one hand
Stand behind
the person
Perform
thrusts
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
First Aid of Choking for Conscious Adults
Step 2: Heimlich maneuver
Step 1
Back blows
First, deliver
five back blows
between the
person's
shoulder
blades
with
the heel of
your hand.
Stand behind
the person
Make a Fist
with one hand
Perform
thrusts
Wrap your arms
around
the
waist. Tip the
person forward
slightly
Position
it
slightly above
the person's
navel.
Press hard
into the
abdomen
with a quick,
upward thrust
— as if trying
to lift the
person up.
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
First Aid of Choking for Pregnant
Women or Obese People
For Pregnant women or obese people, it may not be
possible to wrap your hands around their abdomen.
Hence do chest thrusts rather than abdominal thrusts:
• Position your hands a little bit higher than with a
normal Heimlich maneuver, at the base of the
breastbone.
• Proceed as with the Heimlich maneuver, pressing
hard into the chest, with a quick thrust.
• Repeat chest thrusts
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
3
27-12-2013
First Aid of Choking for Unconscious
Adults
For an unconscious person, it may be difficult to lift the
person on your own. Hence the first aid given for choking
will be CPR, while they are lying down:
• Lower the person on his or her back onto the floor.
• Clear the airway. If possible reach a finger into the
mouth and sweep out the cause of the blockage.
• Begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
First Aid Management of Choking –
Infants
Never, ever use abdominal thrusts on a baby under one year. This
can cause serious injury.
• In Infants, deliver 5 back blows and deliver 5 chest trusts
• Repeat the back blows and chest thrusts
• If infant doesn’t resume breathing perform CPR
• Still if infant doesn’t breath, call for emergency medical help
• For children above 01 year, use the same process as for adults
Back Blows
Chest Thrusts
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
First Aid Management of Choking –
Infants
Back Blows
Give up to five back blows.
Hold the baby face down
along your forearm with
their head lower than their
bottom. Hit them firmly on
their back between the
shoulder blades.
Chest Thrusts
Give up to five back blows.
Hold the baby face down
along your forearm with their
head lower than their
bottom. Hit them firmly on
their back between the
shoulder blades.
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
4
27-12-2013
First Aid of Choking for Self
If nobody is around and you are choking, then
you can give yourself first aid:
• Place a fist slightly above your navel.
• Grasp your fist with the other hand and bend
over a hard surface — a countertop or chair
will do.
•
Push your fist inward and upward.
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
Activity
Time Required (suggested) : 30 Minutes
Items Needed: Dummy of an infant
Form Groups : Divide yourselves into groups of 5 to perform the 5 kinds of first aid
Group 1 : First aid in conscious adults while choking
Group 2 : First aid in unconscious adults while choking
Group 3 : First aid in pregnant/obese people while choking
Group 4 : First aid in infants while choking
Group 5: First aid in self while choking
Select a leader for each group
Initial Demonstration: select volunteers for enacting as victim and helper in different groups
Group 1,2,3: One person to be a volunteer to enact as a victim and one as a helper who has to perform first aid
Group 4 : Dummy( infant) is the victim and one person is the helper
Group 5: only one person who will be the victim as well as the helper as he has to perform first aid on himself.
The initial volunteers will demonstrate the emergency procedure assigned to them
Group Feedback
The observers in in the group will give feedback on and discuss what the volunteers did right and what was wrong
Repeat Demonstration
Another set of volunteers in each group will demonstrate the same procedures keeping in mind the feedback.
Class Presentation
Volunteers from each group will present their procedure in front of the whole class so that all 5 procedures are
shown.
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
Credits and Acknowledgments
We would sincerely like to thank the following entities for the resources
and references:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwJlZnu05Cw
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBp3mkX6JGo
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV8MnnemWFQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-IHk3jO7w
For further reference please refer to
• http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/randhawakiran231124871-choking/
•
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/hero-son-savesmum-choking-2194363
•
http://www.stjohn.org.nz/First-Aid/First-Aid-Library/Choking
© 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.
5