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Show SchooLrv and TA Home fe J Dr. Daryl J. McCarty Executive Secretory Utah Education Association By Dr. Daryl J. McCarty The student was sitting in a school cafeteria eating lunch lun-ch one moment, and within the next second he was four minutes away from death. The boy was choking on a piece of taco shell. Medical people say a choking person has only four minutes to live unless somebody can remove the object ob-ject blocking the airway. Fortunately, For-tunately, the medical people have come up with a way for us to save choking people. A teacher used this technique, called the "Heimlich Maneuver," to remove that dangerous piece of taco shell. The manuever works this way: First, you stand behind the choking person and wrap your arms around his or her waist. Grasp your fist with your other hand and place the fist against the victim's ab- domen, slightly above the navel and below the rib cage. Then press your fist into the victim's abdomen with a quick, upward thrust. If you're successful on the first try, the object may fly out of the victim's mouth, and easy breathing should resume. If it doesn't, try again and again. The Utah Heart Association reports that ab out 30 persons in Utah have been saved from choking by someone using the Heimlich Maneuver in the past two years. Several of the cases occured when child victims were eating at home. Its important to know the signs that tell you when someone is choking. Since the windpipe is closed, the victim cannot speak. He or she may turn blue from lack of oxygen. The victim may collapse. Just as important as recognizing that someone else is choking: The need to tell others if you yourself are ' choking. How do you do it if you cannot speak? The originator of the technique suggests that anyone who is choking approach ap-proach others and point frantically fran-tically to the throat. If there's nobody around, the victim should try to use the maneuver on himself or herself. |