Question on choking

[Meditrina]

No, I am not choking right now. But yesterday I choked on my soda and this question came to mind.

When you are choking on a solid, you drink something to wash it down, assuming you don't need the Heimlich. What do you do when you choke on a liquid, like my soda? How can you stop yourself from coughing/choking? It was more like it went down wrong, but it took me awhile to stop having that coughing/choking feeling.

[snowy]

You shouldn't stop yourself from coughing/choking. That's your body's natural response to a foreign liquid being somewhere it shouldn't be, and your body will keep on coughing until it's all out.

After you feel it's all out, drink some water to soothe the tissues irritated by all the coughing. That will help that sensation go away faster.

[Meditrina]

Ok, I will do that next time. Thanks for the info!

[maybird]

I choked really bad once and no one was there to help me! I was thinking the same thing! What the heck do I do? I just coughed uncontrollably....there even came a point where I felt myself about to pass out from not getting oxygen. It hurt my throat so bad and I'll never forget it. It all happened from drinking tea. I saw something funny right as i drank it and ended up making it go down the wrong pipe and I choked.

[vanblah]

Originally Posted by maybird

I choked really bad once and no one was there to help me! I was thinking the same thing! What the heck do I do? I just coughed uncontrollably....there even came a point where I felt myself about to pass out from not getting oxygen. It hurt my throat so bad and I'll never forget it. It all happened from drinking tea. I saw something funny right as i drank it and ended up making it go down the wrong pipe and I choked.

You can perform the Heimlich on yourself

[clavus]

Liquid down the wind pipe is not the same as solid blocking the wind pipe. Liquid is uncomfortable, so cough, baby, cough. It's what you are supposed to do. Solid lodged in the wind pipe will prevent you from breathing and coughing.

[ratbastid]

clavus is right--when you CAN'T cough, THAT'S a problem. Coughing is a good sign in a choking victim; it means they're getting air in to cough with. You really want to save your Heimlich maneuver for the person who's clutching their throat without making a sound.

[Redlemon]

You need to burp.

Seriously, the gasping/choking thing you had going on has put a large amount of air down the wrong pipe. You are going to feel a bit weird for a while, then you'll have a huge burp, and you will feel better.

At least, that works for me.

Oh, I just remembered: I learned that answer here on TFP four years ago.

[Nimetic]

Dunno if I'm that concerned about liquids.

But if I get a solid caught, then I breathe a full lungful of air in in really really slowly (so as not to suck the object in further) then try one big cough. Then repeat until done.

Seems safer to me that way.

[snowy]

I thought about this thread today when I went through CPR/AED/First Aid training again (have to do it regularly as a childcare worker). Funny thing is that the recommended treatment for a conscious choking child who is coughing is to encourage them to keep coughing. Only when they stop coughing do you move on to abdominal thrusts (aka the Heimlich Maneuver).

[Nimetic]

Yeah... the Heimlich used to be off the list here. I think it was taught in the 80s, but by the 90s it was considered too dangerous to teach in FA classes.

I don't know what they teach now, to be honest. Obviously - it's important to adhere to your local protocol/standard.

I got the impression that that the Heimlich was embraced (cough cough) a little too enthusiastically... : >

[Meditrina]

Originally Posted by Redlemon

You need to burp.

Seriously, the gasping/choking thing you had going on has put a large amount of air down the wrong pipe. You are going to feel a bit weird for a while, then you'll have a huge burp, and you will feel better.

At least, that works for me.

Oh, I just remembered: I learned that answer here on TFP four years ago.

This is very good information. I will have to remember this next time I swallow my drink the wrong way.

[K5054]

I was working on conservation in a field in hot weather and the owner gave me an ice cold fizzy cola. I gulped it down and some excess went into my lungs, the fizzy drink as it warmed, foamed and completly blocked my airway and I could neither breathe in or out nor cough. I have never heard such animal noises coming from a human being as were coming from somewhere inside me as I choked.I was like it for around 2 minutes, unable to breathe in or out or cough until the cola ran out of fiz in my lungs and I was finall able to cough it up and draw a breath. I think that under such circimsances and alone it may be possible to choke to death and am left wondering if anyone has choked to death on a cold fizzy cola.

[snowy]

What an interesting resurrection. I hope to never choke to death on a cold, fizzy soda.

[PonyPotato]

It probably wasn't just choking to death so much as carbon dioxide (from the carbonation in the soda) blocking CO2 from diffusing out of the blood and into the lungs for oxygen exchange. That sounds ridiculously dangerous.