Foreign object inhaled: First aid

Take quick action if someone is choking on an inhaled object.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

If you or your child inhales a foreign object, see your healthcare professional. Foreign objects are things that aren't meant to be inside the airways, such as peanuts, popcorn, coins and toy parts. If an inhaled foreign object causes choking, you need to perform first aid.

Give first aid as quickly as you can if you or someone else is choking. To be ready to help someone who inhales a foreign object, learn the Heimlich maneuver and CPR in a certified first-aid training course.

When to seek emergency help

If you're the only rescuer for someone who's choking, first give back blows and belly thrusts, also called abdominal thrusts. These thrusts are a procedure called the Heimlich maneuver. Then call 911 or your local emergency number for help. If another person is there, have that person call for help while you give first aid.

If you're alone and choking, call 911 or your local emergency number right away. Then, give yourself abdominal thrusts to remove the stuck object.

Treatment

Child and adult

If a choking person can cough with force, let the person keep coughing.

Coughing might remove the stuck object.

If a person can't cough, talk, cry or laugh with force, give first aid to the person.

The American Red Cross recommends the following steps:

• Give five back blows. Stand to the side and just behind a choking adult. For a child, kneel behind. Place your arm across the person's chest to support the person's body. Bend the person over at the waist to face the ground. Strike five times between the person's shoulder blades with the heel of your hand.
• Give five abdominal thrusts. If back blows don't remove the stuck object, give five abdominal thrusts.
• Keep giving five blows, then five thrusts until the object moves.

If you're the only rescuer for someone who's choking, give back blows and abdominal thrusts first. Then, call 911 or your local emergency number for help. If another person is there, have that person call for help while you give first aid.

If the person who has inhaled an object isn't conscious:

• Lower the person onto the floor, with the back on the floor and arms to the sides.
• Clear the airway. If you can see the object, reach a finger into the mouth to sweep out the object. Never finger sweep if you can't see the object. You risk pushing the blockage deeper into the airway. This is a high risk with young children.
• Begin CPR if the person still doesn't respond. If the airway is still blocked, press on the chest as is done in CPR to remove the stuck object. If the airway is clear and you give rescue breaths, only use two rescue breaths per cycle. Keep checking the mouth for the object.

Some sources only teach the abdominal thrust. It's OK not to use back blows if you haven't learned how to give back blows. Both ways can work for adults and children older than age 1.

To give abdominal thrusts to someone else:

• Stand behind the person. For a child, kneel down behind. Place one foot slightly in front of the other for balance. Wrap your arms around the waist. Tip the person forward slightly.
• Make a fist with one hand. Put it just above the person's navel.
• Grasp the fist with the other hand. Press into the stomach, also called the abdomen, with a quick, upward thrust — as if trying to lift the person up. For a child, use gentle yet firm pressure to avoid damaging the internal organs.
• Give five abdominal thrusts. Check if the blockage has been removed. Repeat as needed.

Pregnant person or someone you can't get your arms around

If the person is pregnant or if you can't get your arms around the belly, give chest thrusts:

• Put your hands at the base of the breastbone, just above where the lowest ribs come together.
• Press hard into the chest with a quick thrust. This is the same action as the Heimlich maneuver.
• Repeat until the blockage moves out of the airway.

Yourself

If you're alone and choking:

Call 911 or your local emergency number right away. Then, give yourself abdominal thrusts to remove the item from the airway.

• Place a fist slightly above your belly button.
• Grasp your fist with the other hand.
• Bend over a hard surface such as a table or chair.
• Shove your fist inward and upward.