How to Give the Heimlich Maneuver | First Aid Training

What do you do when someone's choking? You and a friend are out in a restaurant and all of a sudden, they start choking. I'm going to have my friend Hannah come over here. We're out, we're having a good time, we're eating and all of the sudden, she seems like she's choking. First, you ask, "Are you OK"? Oftentimes, the international sign for choking is this. I can't breathe. Something's going on. If you're around other people, you want to get them to help you. If you're in a restaurant or place of business, have someone call out for help and have the people help you out. Tell them what you're doing. Don't just attack them because that will just heighten their anxiety and their panic. What you're going to do is, you're going to stand behind them and you're going to wrap your arms all away around. You find their belly button with your pinky. Make a fist.

Put the pinky on the bellybutton, then roll it up so the knuckle of your thumb is right there and then you thrust. You pull it in and up, but I'm not going to do it as hard. In and up. In and up until they can dislodge whatever is in there and they can breathe again. Don't go crazy like in the movies and start slapping their back and wrestling. Sometimes people get carried away and they want to slap your back. They just end up hurting you. If the person is pregnant or a larger person and you can't get your arms all away around to where their belly button is, you want to go higher, up to where their breastbone is. So, say Hannah is pregnant - Congratulations!

You wrap around. You find their breastbone. You do the same thing. In and up. In and up until they dislodge whatever is in their throat and they can breathe again. If the person is so big, if you're a small person, and you have a big strapping person with you who's choking and you just can't even do that. You can assist them in doing a self Heimlich maneuver on a chair or surface that will get to their diaphragm. You just lean them over. Talk them through it.

Stay calm. The more panicky you get, the more panicky they're going to get. They're already in a state of anxiety because they can't breathe, which is normal. If they lose consciousness and they fall to the floor, you're going to lay them down. You're going to roll them over and then you're going to do the same thing. You're going to find the bellybutton, roll up, and you're going to thrust while they're on the floor until that comes out or until help arrives. Continue trying to do the thrusts and trying to get them to get that out of their throat so they can breathe again. Stay with them until help arrives.