Emergency Cards EN-GB

United Kingdom

Choking

Reviewed

Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them. Disclaimer

Do this first

Ask loudly: are you choking? If they cannot answer, give five hard back blows between the shoulder blades now.

With a fully blocked airway, a person has three to four minutes before the brain starts to run short of oxygen. They cannot call for help because they cannot make a sound. Both hands clutching the throat is the universal sign.

Step by step

  1. Ask: are you choking? If they can speak or cough loudly, do nothing except encourage the coughing. A strong cough is the best help they can get.
  2. If the cough is silent or they cannot breathe, stand to one side and slightly behind them. Support the chest with one hand and lean them forward.
  3. Give up to five sharp blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. Check after each blow whether the object is out.
  4. If that fails, stand behind them and put your fist just above the navel. Grip it with the other hand and pull sharply inwards and upwards, up to five times.
  5. Keep alternating five back blows and five abdominal thrusts until the object comes out.
  6. If the person goes limp, lower them to the ground, call 999 and start CPR at once. Compressions also push air against the object.
  7. Anyone who has had abdominal thrusts must be checked by a doctor afterwards, even if they feel fine.

Never do this

  • Do not sweep the mouth blindly with a finger. It pushes the object deeper. Remove only what you can clearly see and grip.
  • Do not use abdominal thrusts on a pregnant woman or a baby. Use chest thrusts for a pregnant woman, and back blows with chest thrusts for a baby.
  • Do not leave a choking person alone, even to get help.

Call emergency services if

  • The airway is fully blocked, or the person is still choking after the first back blows.
  • The person became unresponsive at any point, even briefly.
  • Any choking that needed abdominal thrusts, once the object is out.

Common questions

What about a baby under one year?

Lay the baby face down along your forearm with the head low. Give five back blows between the shoulder blades, then turn the baby over and give five chest compressions with two fingers. Never use abdominal thrusts on a baby.

I am choking and completely alone. What can I do?

Call 999 even if you cannot speak, and leave the line open. Push your own abdomen sharply against a chair back or table edge, just above the navel. Repeat hard until the object moves.

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Sources and standards

Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them.