Performing the Heimlich Maneuver When You're Alone

The other day I read the following in the autobiography of the late British businessman Charles Forte: "I had been invited to lunch there, and found myself sitting next to Lord Mountbatten. We got involved in a vigorous argument about the merits of a certain politician, whom I was denouncing loudly and he was defending. I got so carried away that I began to choke on a piece of meat. I rushed from the room, but my wife saw what had happened, followed me, and banged my back hard. The meat was fortunately dislodged. When I returned, I found that Mountbatten had taken the whole event extremely seriously. He had had a friend in India in the army who had died in such a way and he advised me always to keep a large glass of water by my plate to avoid any recurrences. When I next went to Broadlands, his home, the vital glass of water was by my plate."

Well.

In no particular order, some comments on the passage above.

1) More often than not, when an adult chokes on food in the manner described above, they've been drinking. This results in the ingestion of a piece of meat too large to be conveniently masticated which, along with the loss of coordination of upper airway and pharyngeal musculature due to alcohol's effect on the brain, can end in a potentially catastrophic anatomical obstruction as the meat comes to rest on the opening of the trachea behind the epiglottis.

2) If you suspect such a thing has happened to someone in the vicinity, DO NOT offer them a glass of water or bang on their back or ask "Are you OK?" Rather, the one question to ask (assuming they are still conscious, which will be the case if nothing is done for up to a minute) is, "Can you talk?" If the person shakes their head "No," immediately perform the Heimlich maneuver (top).

3) In the event you are alone and find you yourself have an obstructed airway, do not panic: you can perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself. Stand up in front of a table or chair back, then ram your upper abdomen as hard as you can against the edge. I mean really hard, so that it hurts. If it doesn't work the first time, do it over and over until the chunk of food pops out. You'll thank me for this. Trust me....