Why YSK:
Despite choking being an emergency, until recently there has been limited high-quality evidence to guide bystanders on the most effective way to help. Techniques like abdominal thrusts (formerly known as the Heimlich maneuver), back blows and chest compressions or thrusts have existed since the mid-1900s but, until recently, recommendations were largely based on case reports rather than rigorous scientific data. This evidence gap is dangerous.
Bystander response is the primary driver of a choking person’s outcome, so ensuring people know the safest and most effective way to care for a choking person can save lives.
Please see the article for the full piece, it’s not long.
Article authors:
- Cody Dunne - Emergency Medicine Physician and PhD Candidate, University of Calgary
- Andrew McRae - Associate Professor, Departments of Emergency Medicine and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
- Khara Sauro - Associate professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Calgary
If you need more motivation to open the article, here is an interesting fact:
New research suggests back blows cleared choking obstructions in 72 per cent of cases, superior to both abdominal thrusts (59 per cent) and chest thrusts (27 per cent).
that seems… atypical? in australia at least, the average response time for a code 1 (most critical) emergency is 15-16min depending on the state
which is still super problematic for complete obstruction (your 5+5min might even be too high for a complete obstruction)
but 45min would make the ambulance service as a whole basically a useless concept
Depends on where you are. I’m a stone’s throw from the ambulance. I can quite literally see it out my back window. Most people in the city I live in will see an ambulance within 10 minutes of the call. Contrast that with where I lived a couple of years ago, and 45 minutes might be the earliest, and up to 90 minutes at the most. We had one ambulance for ~20,000 people in a 1,000 square mile area. If ambulance one was called out, a second ambulance was rolled from the next area over to just the edge of ours. I’d say that situation was pretty typical for 5-10% of the people in my greater geographical area, i.e., if you lived outside of a big city.