St John Ambulance, the nation’s leading first aid charity, is bringing you some simple, but life saving, first aid tips – this week: choking.

Choking is when your airway gets blocked and you can’t breathe properly.

What to look for:

If you think someone is choking, ask them: ‘Are you choking?’ to check they’re not suffering from something else. Can they speak, cry, cough or breathe?

If they can, they should be able to clear their throat on their own by coughing, so encourage them to cough.
If they can’t cough or make any noise, it’s serious.

What you need to do - help clear their throat with these three steps.

1. Cough it out: Encourage them to cough. If this doesn't clear the obstruction, support their upper body with one hand and help them lean forward.
2. Slap it out: If coughing doesn’t work, help the casualty bend forward. Use the heel of your hand to give up to five sharp back blows between their shoulder blades. Check their mouth to see if there’s anything in there and, if there is, get them to pick it out.
3. Squeeze it out: If back blows don’t work, give up to five abdominal thrusts. Stand behind them. Link your hands between their tummy button and the bottom of their chest, with your lower hand clenched in a fist. Pull sharply inwards and upwards.

If they’re still choking, call 999 or 112 for medical help. Then continue steps 2 and 3 – back blows and abdominal thrusts – until what’s in there has cleared, help arrives or they become unresponsive.
If they become unresponsive, open their airway and check their breathing.

If they’re not breathing, start chest compressions and rescue breaths (CPR - cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to try to release whatever’s stuck.

For those looking for quick, easily accessible first aid information, the St John Ambulance app is available free on smartphones and the website www.sja.org.uk offers demo videos, an interactive game, and lots of free advice. For more information about first aid courses please call 0844 770 4800.

Article supplied by Kate Rutsch