First Aid Techniques

Choking, Larger or Pregnant Victim, what to look for & How to Help:

As we have mentioned in our previous posts Choking is an emergency that can affect anyone of any age, size or gender. For this post we will focus on those with unique situations like being pregnant, beings seated or just being a larger person. These special scenario’s are designed to help you gain extra knowledge to aid a variety of victims of any nature.

The most common causes of chocking include trying to swallow large pieces of food, eating while talking, walking or playing, being under the influence of an intoxicant or elicit substance while eating.

What to look for:

  • Inability to speak, cough or breath
  • Change in face color like bluish, red, or paler than normal
  • Look of panic with wide eyes “Fear“
  • One or both hands clutching the throat or flailing
  • High pitch whistle or noise when they attempt to breath or cough
  • They may suddenly attempt to rush to the restroom

For the Pregnant or Larger Person:

As mentioned in the Post “Choking, What to look for & How to Help” perform your 5 FIRM BACK BLOWS but instead of giving abdominal J thrusts perform 5 CHEST THRUSTS. Alternate between your 5 FIRM BACK BLOWS & 5 FIRM CHEST THRUSTS until the object comes free or the person begins to breath, cough or becomes unconscious.

To Perform the Chest Thrusts:

  1. Stand behind the victim and wrap both arms around the person’s chest under the armpits.
  2. Make a fist and place the thumb side of your fist in the center of the victims chest “Above the bosoms“
  3. Place your other hand over your first and pull back towards you sharply 5 Times.
  4. Continue until the object comes free or the victim becomes unconscious, if the victim becomes unconscious call 911 & Begin CPR 30 Chest Compression 2 Breaths watching for the object to come free. If you can see the object remove it, never perform a blind finger sweep!

For the Seated Victim:

  • For the person in a wheelchair “Lock the wheels in position”
  1. Kneel or crouch behind the victim
  2. wrap your arms around the victim placing a fist “Thumb side in” against the abdomen just above the belly button.
  3. Grip your fist with your other hand and pull sharply in and up in a “ J ” like motion 5 times.
  4. Move your fist to the center of the victims chest and grip your first with your other hand pulling sharply in 5 times
  5. Alternate your 5 Abdominal “ J ” Thrusts & 5 Chest Thrusts until the object comes free or the victim becomes unconscious.

We never know what can happen, its always good to be prepared and have the knowledge we need to help those who need it.

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Above all else remember to Protect Yourself!!! Call 911!!! Don’t Wast Time!!!

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