LiveLongAgeWell

[First: if there is an emergency now, don't read this post: call 911]…Since LLAW is a blog for adult health, on this Halloween I won’t talk about the dangers in candy or flammable costumes, but I’ll try to scare you—just slightly—with one statistic: accidents are the fifth leading cause of death overall, but for those under age 45, they are the number one cause!

Living Long means cutting our accident risks. With the holiday season gearing up, we might be rushing around more, talking and eating (perhaps drinking alcohol) in social situations and all this increases the odds for one type of accident—choking on food. Today let’s review how you might help someone choking, and even how you can help yourself if you are alone.

The best treatment for choking (as it is in most areas of medicine) is controversial.  The American Red Cross recommends five blows to the back first to try to dislodge an obstructing object, and the American Heart Association recommends first doing the Heimlich maneuver. I recommend you study the links below to get a good sense of both approaches.

Remember though that treatment of choking is not a trivial matter— you can hurt someone if you do it badly, or if you do it when someone really doesn’t need it, so read the links carefully and go over the videos several times until you really understand it. Done in the right situation and done correctly, these techniques have saved many lives…to age well, it helps to be prepared!

1.    The American Red Cross video tutorial: to navigate through the Flash site, first “Click Here To Begin”, then click the “Table of Contents” tab, then find “Conscious Choking” to start the video.
2.    This WebMD site has a good discussion of the American Heart Association approach, and includes information about doing the Heimlich maneuver on yourself if you are alone.
3.    Bonus: since our pets are also important (and for our own mental well-being), you might be interested in this SPCA information on performing the Heimlich maneuver on pets…whatever, have a safe and fun Halloween weekend!