She's eating some cake while standing at the kitchen sink and starts choking, can't breathe. Something I've never dealt with, I perform the Heimlich as best I can, she's freaking. I'm hoping for the moment something shoots out her mouth but it didn't end that way. After several attempts, things just cleared up with no further drama. She had just had some water on top of the cake, I'm thinking things may have dissolved.

Before that I'm trying to figure what to do if she passes out, I think that she was close. How should I deal with that situation, are there further courses of action I should be aware of?

Scary for all involved I must say.

Sounds like you did good...she's alive.

When we owned our restaurant I had to do that twice. Food popped out each time, I was not gentle. Our granddaughter got a piece of broccoli caught in her throat when she was around three. I hit her pretty good on the back and it popped out. Pretty scary stuff.

After sailing from Chicago to Michigan City, IN, my wife was in a restaurant for dinner.

She went to the restroom and on her way back to the table she encountered a commotion at another table. Hearing the words "choking" and "ambulance," she pushed her way through the panicked people who were just standing around, got behind the man who was choking, and did the Heimlich maneuver. He expelled a chunk of the steak that he had been eating.

My wife returned to her table, the meal for the whole group was comped. After sailing back to Burnham Park in Chicago and returning home, she realized that she did not have her purse.

Couple days later a package arrived from the restaurant with a note stating that they used her Driver License to get the address to send the package. They had also removed all the cash from her wallet because they did not trust sending cash, and replaced the cash with a certified check payable to her.

If they pass out, lower to the ground and push upward on the belly. Basically, straddle the legs and use 2 hands to shove their solar plexus upwards. Then look in the mouth. Don't finger sweep the mouth unless you see something. Rinse and repeat until it gets cleared. Do CPR if they lose a pulse and call 911.

Bruce

OP it sounds to me like maybe your wife wasn’t choking but had some cake stuck on top of her stomach at the bottom of her esophagus. Sometimes that sphincter there can get blocked with sticky or dry food and it hurts like hell and if you drink water on top of it before it clears into the stomach your esophagus fills up with water quickly and you can feel like you’re going to choke/drown.

Several of my brothers and I have this issue and it sucks. There’s a medical procedure they can do to relax/widen that top stomach sphincter but I haven’t done it. If I swallow a large bite of dryish mashed potatoes or overcooked chicken without enough liquid it hurts like hell. Some say people think it’s a heart attack. Sometimes you have to gag or cough or puke to get things clear.

Of course if she wasn’t breathing or making any noise then she might have been choking. In any case I’m glad she’s okay. That must have been scary.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
After sailing from Chicago to Michigan City, IN, my wife was in a restaurant for dinner.

She went to the restroom and on her way back to the table she encountered a commotion at another table. Hearing the words "choking" and "ambulance," she pushed her way through the panicked people who were just standing around, got behind the man who was choking, and did the Heimlich maneuver. He expelled a chunk of the steak that he had been eating.

My wife returned to her table, the meal for the whole group was comped. After sailing back to Burnham Park in Chicago and returning home, she realized that she did not have her purse.

Couple days later a package arrived from the restaurant with a note stating that they used her Driver License to get the address to send the package. They had also removed all the cash from her wallet because they did not trust sending cash, and replaced the cash with a certified check payable to her.

Good Things Happen To Good People.

2 years ago I took 2 free classes put on by our Fire Dept. CPR and first aid. Choking was covered. They are good classes to take, especially for free.

I am glad your wife is okay.

Years ago when I was on a job installing a fire suppression system in a industrial kitchen hood I had to do this to my customer.
I was standing on a stove working in the hood, the customer was talking to me. I could not see him but but we were talking. All of a sudden he stopped talking. When I looked under the bottom edge of the hood I could see there was something wrong. I asked him If he was choking and he nodded yes.I said don't move I know what to do. I jumped down from the stove and did the Heimlick on him. Out came a wedge of Grapefruit he was eating.
I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital to get checked out but he said no he was aright.

With all the training as a firefighter/first responded that I have used to help people over the years this story and delivering a baby are the ones I remember most.

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
OP it sounds to me like maybe your wife wasn’t choking but had some cake stuck on top of her stomach at the bottom of her esophagus...

I think you might be right. Now that I think about it, for some time she'll have moments eating that I've passed off as doing so too quickly. When the Dr.'s office is back open for business, I'll make sure she mentions this. Thanks.

Glad to hear things went well.

Definitely TAKE a course in CPR.

Well worth the nominal cost and time! Ive had to perform CPR on my daughter when she was 6 months old. It definitely gets your attention!

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
2 years ago I took 2 free classes put on by our Fire Dept. CPR and first aid. Choking was covered. They are good classes to take, especially for free.

Indeed. I firmly believe that every able-bodied older child and adult should know basic first aid and CPR. The classes are usually free, and widely available, and they very likely may allow you to save someone's life someday (or even your own).

That goes doubly for folks like those here, who carry a concealed handgun and believes in self-defense and self-sufficiency.

Like the police, it takes a while for an ambulance to arrive. As a twist on the old saying about cops and self-defense goes... When seconds count, EMTs/FFs are only minutes away. Standing around talking on the phone with 911 while waiting for help to arrive is just as poor of a plan for a medical emergency as it is for a self-defense emergency.

Besides, you're more likely to encounter a situation where someone needs emergency first aid than you are to need to use a defensive firearm.

I'm glad she's OK.

I had to do the Heimmlich twice, recently. A co-worker started choking in the lunch/break room. This man is frightfully obese. I am 6/2" and could barely get my arms around him. Trying to push up through the fat to get enough pressure to expel the food was almost impossible.

The only other person in the place with first aid training was about 5'2". She came out of her office, saw how much trouble I was having, knew she would be useless unless it went to CPR, remembered I have a bad back, and (correctly) concluded that if my back went out, I would be spasming on the floor and useless. She decided the best thing to do was try to find another male co-worker who might be able to help.

She ran down the hall to her best friend's office, charged in and said, "I need a man!" Her co-worker assumed her marriage had gone south, jumped up and started talking about how sorry she was.

By the time they got that mess untangled and returned with help, the victim was breathing and my arms were soaked to the elbows in sputum and vomit.

The other time was in a restaurant when my 11 year old daughter started choking. Again, nastiness followed, but she's alive. The astonishing thing was all the people who just stood there looking. She literally could have choked to death and no one would probably even have called 911. They were totally frozen.

Yeah, those Red Cross courses were worth it!

quote:

Originally posted by murphman:
I had to do the Heimmlich twice, recently. A co-worker started choking in the lunch/break room. This man is frightfully obese. I am 6/2" and could barely get my arms around him. Trying to push up through the fat to get enough pressure to expel the food was almost impossible.

In situations like that, if you can't get your arms around them because they're too fat, or too tall, or you're too small, there are two options:

A) Put their back to a wall or other hard surface, and apply upwards thrusts to their solar plexus from the front, using the palm of your hand. You may need to kneel to get the right angle.

or

B) You can revert to the unconscious Heimlich technique (as described above by RNShooter). Even if they're still conscious, have them lay on the ground, straddle their thighs, and apply upwards thrusts to their solar plexus. (This is potentially less ideal on a conscious person, as you may dislodge the obstruction only to have it fall back or get sucked back in.)

[/QUOTE] In situations like that, if you can't get your arms around them because they're too fat, or too tall, or you're too small, there are two options:

A) Put their back to a wall or other hard surface, and apply upwards thrusts to their solar plexus from the front, using the palm of your hand. You may need to kneel to get the right angle.

or

B) You can revert to the unconscious Heimlich technique (as described above by RNShooter). Even if they're still conscious, have them lay on the ground, straddle their thighs, and apply upwards thrusts to their solar plexus. (This is potentially less ideal on a conscious person, as you may dislodge the obstruction only to have it fall back or get sucked back in.)[/QUOTE]

Excellent points, and thank you for sharing them. I was aware of them, but fortunately my arms were long enough and I was strong enough to get the desired result using the "classic" technique. In fact, my short co-worker told me how glad she was that I was there, because she would've had to do the "standing up, facing him" version and would've been covered in serious grossness afterwards.

Way to go!

After first aid and cpr recertification every year since 1985, I finally had to use it on my own 14 month year old daughter. Her mom was feeding her some baby melts that had been open and hardened and one became lodged in her airway. I’m very fortunate to have the calm needed amidst chaos to focus on emergency tasks at hand. Sent my wife to call 911 just in case. When I got to her I swept her mouth and throat. At first I heard air pass and then all of a sudden it stopped. It was lodged in such a way that for a moment it turned like a valve for a moment and then turned again to completely stop airflow. I totally skipped patting her back and placing her downward and started using the adult method but with lighter pumps inward and up with thumb facing in. Thank God it came out forcefully like it had been tossed out. Hope that’s the only time I ever have to use it.

I had to perform this on my son who was maybe 2y/o at the time. We were at his brother’s karate class, and another parent had brought hard candy in.

I did the technique of laying him down on my thigh, inverted, and did the back blows. It probably only lasted 20 seconds, but it felt like forever.

I don't know what it is, but the older I get I find myself (almost) choking more and more often.

Many many years ago, in between colleges, I worked at a restaurant and worked a lot of rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions, etc.

I had forgotten to remove my retainer before eating a leftover filet medallion in the kitchen after the party, and it slid on the retainer and stuck hard before I’d even chewed once. The bartender also working the party jumped up and performed the heimlich immediately. Might only have been 5 seconds total, but it felt like an eternity.

I’ve only had to perform it once, about 10 years ago. One of our part-time employees, who was over 80 and might have weighed 90 lbs soaking wet, choked on a grape. I was scared to death I was going to crack her ribs, but I got it loose with no damage to her. Took 3 tries, though.

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
OP it sounds to me like maybe your wife wasn’t choking but had some cake stuck on top of her stomach at the bottom of her esophagus. Sometimes that sphincter there can get blocked with sticky or dry food and it hurts like hell and if you drink water on top of it before it clears into the stomach your esophagus fills up with water quickly and you can feel like you’re going to choke/drown.

Several of my brothers and I have this issue and it sucks. There’s a medical procedure they can do to relax/widen that top stomach sphincter but I haven’t done it. If I swallow a large bite of dryish mashed potatoes or overcooked chicken without enough liquid it hurts like hell. Some say people think it’s a heart attack. Sometimes you have to gag or cough or puke to get things clear.

This happens to me, once or twice a month. Once or twice a year so bad it hurt like hell. Once I had to make myself gag it up, at a business dinner. Rice and dry chicken are usually the culprits, especially as I like to eat together. I check and swallow small portions of those.