The Heimlich method is used for choking, when a person needs immediate help. Usually in this state, the complexion of the victim becomes blue-red, as they say, cyanotic. A man grabs his throat and is unable to talk or breathe air. In such situations, it is very important to know the Heimlich method well. You can also help yourself in this way.
General description of the Heimlich method
What to do if someone chokes next to you? First of all, do not panic. Follow these steps:
- If a choked person is conscious and standing, stand behind him.
- Grip the victim with both hands.
- Squeeze one of the hands in a fist and with your thumb of a fist press down the place of the abdomen of the victim between the navel and the ribs. This area of the abdomen is called the epigastric.
- Place the palm of the other hand on top of the fist and push it upwards into the stomach with a pushing movement. Performing this movement, make sure that your hands are bent at the elbows, but the chest of the victim is not squeezed.
- We repeat the application of the Heimlich method until the respiratory tract of the choked person is completely released.
It is important to remember that patting the victim on the back can make things worse. The subject with which the person choked from the pops on the back can pass through the respiratory tract below. A sign that the Heimlich method worked is that a person can breathe on his own, and his complexion has become normal.
Heimlich method: a description of the necessary actions if the person is unconscious
If a choked person faints or it is not possible to approach him from behind, you can still help him. To assist the victim:
- Put the man on his back.
- Take a pose while sitting on the victim, facing his head. Try to sit on your hips so you don’t press hard on the chest and stomach of a person who needs help.
- Put your hands on top of each other. The lower arm should be located between the navel and the ribs of a choked person.
- Pressing with your whole body, perform active shocks in the epigastric region of the victim in the upward direction.
- Make sure that the victim’s head is looking straight and not turned to one side.
- Repeat your movements until the person begins to breathe independently.
- If the person you are helping does not recover, then do cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the doctors arrive. A doctor’s examination will be necessary for the injured in the event of restoration of breathing and consciousness.
Heimlich method for foreign bodies of the respiratory tract in children
If a child suffocates and cannot breathe, it is necessary to perform the following actions:
- Lay the injured child on his back on the floor.
- Kneel at his feet.
- Place the middle and index fingers of your two hands on the baby’s stomach between the navel and the rib arch.
- Make an active pushing movement upwards to the diaphragm of the child.
- Make sure that the chest is free, does not feel pressure on itself.
- Must be repeated until airway cleansing.
Helping young children
There is another method of helping a choked child, especially suitable for young children.
It is executed as follows:
- Lay the child face down so that his face is in your palm and his legs are on opposite sides of your forearms.
- Slightly pat your child on the back between the shoulder blades with your palm until the airways are clear.
If this method fails, continue to assist with the first method of taking Heimlich. If the child does not return to consciousness and does not breathe, it is necessary to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the arrival of doctors. After chirping the child, the doctor conducts an examination and, if successful, get rid of the foreign body.
Heimlich help to himself
If you find yourself in this situation yourself and there is no one nearby who could help you, you must do the following:
- Squeeze your hand in a fist and the side where your thumb is located, attach it to the stomach between the ribs and the navel.
- Put the palm of the second hand over the fist.
- With an active push, the fist is pressed upward towards the diaphragm.
- Repeat these steps until you become easier to breathe.
There is also a Heimlich method with a chair for self-help. To complete this option, you need to lean on a chair, railing or corner of the table, in a word, on a reliably standing object with your stomach, and perform jerks upward. After self-help, you must go through a doctor’s examination.
Features of the implementation of the Heimlich reception during drowning
The most important thing to remember when assisting the drowned man: while there is water in the lungs, air cannot enter there.
If the victim is on the ground, we provide assistance in the following order:
- Flip a person onto his back.
- His head must be turned to the side so that water flows out of the mouth.
- Take a sitting position on the hips of a person in need of help, facing his head.
- Fold your hands on top of each other, with the palm of your lower hand resting on the epigastric region of the drowned man.
- While pressing the weight of your body, perform active pushing movements towards the victim's face.
If the victim is in a standing position in the pool or in shallow water, we carry out a series of rescue actions in this order:
- Stand behind the person in need of help, grab him with your own hands.
- Squeeze one of the hands in a fist and, with the thumb of a fist, squeeze the victim's abdomen between the navel and the ribs, the epigastric region.
- Place the palm of the other hand on top of the fist and push it upwards into the stomach with a pushing movement. Performing this movement, make sure that your hands are bent at the elbows, but the chest of the victim is not squeezed.
- We repeat the application of the Heimlich method until the airways of the person who has swallowed the water are completely released, that is, until the water spills out of the victim’s mouth.
- If the above steps fail, start cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the ambulance arrives.
- The doctor will need to examine the victim for any outcome.
It is important to remember that the weight of a person in the water is less than his weight on the ground due to the buoyancy of the water.
In order to perfectly master the reception of Heimlich, it is necessary to conduct rehabilitation classes for the victims using a mannequin.