I felt the food got stuck in my windpipe. Startled, I grab my Calamansi juice and take a sip believing that it will speed down the food to my stomach. Unfortunately, it did not help; instead I felt my throat totally blocked. I can’t breathed & felt a slicing pain somewhere in my left brain.
Alarmed, Mary Ann asks what she can do to help me. Speechless, I stood up besides her, lean and requested her thru hand gestures to slap hard my back between the shoulder blades. She did, and I suddenly gave a strong cough throwing some of my swallowed lunch meal on the floor. I ran to the dirty kitchen where I throw out more of the swallowed lunch meal; and eventually I was relieved! Thank You God for watching over us. (Deuteronomy 32:11 “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taken them, beareth them on their wings.”)
Normally, when we swallow a flap of cartilage known as the epiglottis moves downward to stop the food being taken into the windpipe. When this fails to happen, food becomes stuck in the airway and choking is said to have occurred.
Here’s some advice to a possible choking victim.
Do not panic in the first instance. When a foreign body got stuck in your throat you will probably be unable to speak, unable to breathe and probably may result in quick loss of consciousness. Go for help. Lean and have your back between the shoulder blades be slapped firmly. If the first slap didn’t work do it again. More often than not you will throw out the foreign object strongly in the first hard slap. If slapping the back is unsuccessful then do the Heimlech’s technique. Here’s how to do Heimlech:
Go behind the choke victim who is in standing position.
Pass your hands around the victim & interlock your hands together just above the navel, in the region of the diaphragm.
Give the victim short & quick abdominal thrusts (by pulling inwards and upwards).
If unsuccessful, call for an ambulance. Begin resuscitation immediately.
As a reminder, never poke your fingers down a choking victim’s throat in an attempt to find the obstructing object. You will only push it in further and make it more difficult to dislodge. If the object appears in the victim’s mouth, remove it gently.
Choking is a common cause of accidental death if swift action is not taken immediately; brain damage can also occur within three to four minutes. I wrote this blog as a reminder for the elders like me to be ready for any emergency at all times.
