First Aid Course: What To Do When Someone is Choking

Whether it is your husband, your colleague, or someone in a restaurant, witnessing anyone choking is a frightening experience. Choking is caused by food or another blockage that is caught in the throat and prevents the person from breathing sufficiently. Knowing what steps to take immediately when someone starts choking can mean the difference between life or death for the suffering person. In this brief guide, we outline the steps to take when someone is mildly choking and severely choking. Gain the essential skills in an EMCARE first aid course to confidently and accurately assist someone when choking.

What To Do When Someone is Mildly Choking:

Mild choking is when there is a blockage in a person’s throat that is causing them to choke, but they are able to speak, cry, cough, and partially breathe. Mild choking can lead to severe choking if the person does not receive any assistance or they are unable to dislodge the blockage themselves through coughing. We have outlined the steps to take when someone is mildly choking.

Step 1 – Encourage Them to Cough:

For mild choking, you need to encourage the person to cough. As the person can breathe, cry, or speak, it means that the airway is only partially blocked and they should be able to dislodge the object or food on their own. You should not perform any other interventions, such as the Heimlich manoeuvre, on a person who is mildly choking as this can further lodge the blockage, cause unnecessary damage, or distress the choking person further.

Step 2 – Get Professional Medical Attention:

Once the person has stopped choking, you should take them to get checked by a professional medical practitioner. The person may be suffering from internal injuries from the blockage or the choking and thus should have a professional perform a medical examination. Additionally, if the person accidentally swallowed the object, they will need to have it professionally removed.

What To Do When Someone is Severely Choking:

Severe choking is when choking is caused by a large blockage that is preventing the person from being able to speak, cough, cry, or breathe. This is a serious medical emergency and it is essential that you take the correct steps to assist them. We have outlined the steps to take when someone is severely choking.

Step 1 - Perform the Heimlich Manoeuvre

The first step to take when someone is severely choking is to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre. The Heimlich manoeuvre is a series of abdominal thrusts that are designed to remove obstructions from the upper airway. The Heimlich manoeuvre lifts the diaphragm and expels air from within the lungs which can dislodge the blockage from within the airway. Before you perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, you need to inform the severely choking person what you are doing so that they do not panic further. We have highlighted the steps of the Heimlich manoeuvre.

1. Stand behind the choking person and wrap your arms around their waist.
2. Bend the person forward slightly.
3. Form a fist with your right hand and position it on their belly button so that the knuckle of your thumb is pressed against the belly button. Place your left hand on top of your right fist.
4. Pull your fist inwards and upwards in a firm and quick thrust.
5. Perform these inward and upward thrusts five times.
6. Repeat this process until the blockage is removed from the airway.

If the person who is choking is pregnant or is too large for you to wrap your arms around their belly, you can perform the same steps in the Heimlich manoeuvre but you will position your fists at the base of their sternum.

Step 2 - Perform CPR:

If you have performed the Heimlich manoeuvre but the object has not been dislodged and the person has lost consciousness, you need to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Before performing CPR, you need to call emergency medical services or have someone around you perform the call. While you wait for emergency medical services to arrive, perform these CPR steps.

1. Place the person flat on their back.
2. Kneel above the person and place the heel of your left hand in the centre of the person’s chest. Place your right hand on top of your left hand and interlock your fingers.
3. With straight arms, push your hands down hard and fast. The chest needs to go downwards by 5cm with each hard push and you need to push at a speed of roughly 2 pushes every second.
4. If you have received training in a first aid course, perform two rescue breaths after every 30 chest compressions.

Learn How to Help Someone Choking with EMCARE’s First Aid Course:

EMCARE offers a first aid course that will adequately train and prepare you to assist someone who is choking. From mild to severe choking, you will gain all the relevant theoretical and practical skills in our first aid course to offer expert first aid care to someone who is choking. Be prepared to assist a loved one, colleague, or someone in a public area who is choking with the expert training from an EMCARE first aid course.

EMCARE offers a wide range of first aid courses that will prepare you for any emergency medical situation. You can learn about choking and CPR in our Basic First Aid Course / First Aid Refresher Course, First Aid Level 1 Course, First Aid Level 2 Course, and First Aid Level 3 Course. If you are interested in furthering your skills in CPR to perform this lifesaving first aid care when faced with someone who has lost consciousness from choking, you can enrol in our CPR and AED Course.

Every EMCARE first aid course is offered by expert trainers. Our first aid course trainers are fully qualified and have over 1000 hours of experience in medical emergency services. With an EMCARE first aid course, you can trust that you will be confident and capable in any medical emergency.

Confidently help someone choking with the essential skills learned in EMCARE’s first aid course.