By Nurse Diane
Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant. While having a bite
to eat, they talk about their moonshine operation.
Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a
sandwich, begins to cough. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she
is in real distress.
One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, 'Kin ya
swallar?'
The woman shakes her head no. Then he asks, 'Kin ya
breathe?'
The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head no.
The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress,
yanks down her drawers and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his
tongue.
The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm and the
obstruction flies out of her mouth. As she begins to breathe again, the
Hillbilly walks slowly back to his table.
His partner says, 'Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind
Lick Maneuver' but I ain't niver seed nobody do it!'
I was watching a movie recently,
Groundhog Day, and there was a scene where Bill Murray goes to a restaurant and
someone is choking, and he performs the Heimlich Maneuver, and out pops the
food that was blocking the person's airway and the person quickly recovers.
Choking can happen at any time.
Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, with partial choking
allowing some, although inadequate, flow of air into the lungs. Prolonged or
complete choking results in asphyxia, which leads to anoxia and is potentially
fatal. Oxygen stored in the blood and lungs keep the victim alive for several
minutes after breathing is stopped completely.
One of the most common causes of choking is a foreign object blocking
the airway, such as food or small toys.
If you see a person start to
choke, they will typically use the universal sign of choking, which are the
hands across the throat. If a person is
coughing forcefully, there is no need to take any action. Encourage coughing, or even slapping them on
the back. Sometimes when I drink water
it will go "down the wrong way" and my mother will tell me to raise
my arms. This has never helped me, but
it may help you. Keep watching closely,
and if they stop coughing, that is the time to go into action. Ask if
they are ok – then follow these steps:
From behind, wrap your arms around the
victim's waist.
Make a fist and place the thumb side of your
fist against the victim's upper abdomen, below the ribcage and above the navel.
Grasp your fist with your other hand and press
into their upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust. Do not squeeze the
ribcage; confine the force of the thrust to your hands.
Repeat until object is expelled.
If
choking occurs with a small child or infant, there are other
procedures to take to prevent causing injury to them. With a baby you will want to place them on
your lap so that their head is lower than their body, have them on their
stomach, so that you will be able to slap their backs. This is the proper technique, however, in
most actual cases the rescuer will become excited, and hang the child upside
down and shake. Caution must be taken to
prevent injury to the child.
If you
find yourself alone and become choked, a person may also perform
abdominal thrusts on themselves by using a fixed object such as a railing or
the back of a chair to apply pressure where a rescuer's hands would normally do
so. As with other forms of the procedure, it is possible that internal injuries
may result.
Taking time to chew your food
properly, or keeping small objects away from children is the key for prevention
of choking. Taking small bites and
proper chewing will help what you swallow to go down efficiently. Make sure to review the Heimlich Maneuver,
and ask those around you if they know the procedure.
It’s never too later to learn, and you
could save a life.
[Photos from Google)
