Even if you’ve been educated on what to do if a person is choking, that knowledge can fade or become muddled over time. Here’s a quick true or false quiz on how to respond if someone is choking. The answers are below the questions.
1. As soon as you notice someone is choking, sweep your fingers through their mouth to try and dislodge the object. Choking victim is conscious and requesting help.
2. If you can’t see the object the victim is choking on, feel along the throat to see if you can locate where the object is caught.
3. The first step in treating a choking victim is encouraging them to cough.
4. If a person’s face isn’t turning blue they aren’t actually choking.
5. Don’t slap a victim’s back, it could lodge the object in the victim’s airway.
Answers:
- False. Never sweep your fingers in a victim’s mouth unless they are unconscious and you can see the object.
- False. Trying to locate the item just wastes valuable response time, and could also cause further injury.
- True. When someone is choking they often panic immediately. Avoid panicking yourself, and encourage them to cough before trying other steps.
- False. Don’t wait for a person to turn blue, if they are choking, treat them accordingly.
- False. If the victim cannot cough the object up, the first step is to offer between five and twenty back slaps between the shoulder blades.
If you got even one question wrong, or had to think for a bit, it’s a great idea to refresh your knowledge; you never know when it will be called into action!
