Choking Prevention
Choking Prevention
Download and print the ACCC's Choke Check tool.
It helps parents to correctly size food and other items that children may choke on.
Hints to prevent choking when feeding adults...
- Sit the person in an upright position, if bedridden, raise their head up to achieve this.
- Adjust the size of the snacks and the feeding speed to the tolerance of the person.
- Avoid pushing or forcing food.
- Alternate between solids and liquids.
- Vary the placement of food in the person's mouth. For example, if the person has muscle weakness in the right part of the mouth, feed them from the left.
- Determine the density that the individual tolerates best.
Choking is the blockage of the airway by a foreign body. This occurs when a piece of food or a small object gets stuck in the throat which may not allow air to enter and exit the lungs normally.
Normally, when a choking occurs, our body reacts by instinctively coughing. Usually coughing will enable most people to relieve their own obstruction. This however may not be true in children, the elderly and those with swallowing difficulties.
If coughing does not immediately clear the obstruction, the person only has a few minutes (in the case of a complete obstruction) before brain damage and death is likely to occur. First Aid therefore has to be applied immediately and if First Aid fails, the LifeVac anti-choking device should be used.