Purpose: Once my audience listens to my speech they will know how they can save lives in a matter of minutes in case of choking. Choking can kill either a child or an adult; therefore my audience will be informed on how they can do Heimlich maneuver to save a life.
Introduction
It is my firm belief that you have observed people getting choked, especially children. I have also seen the same. I once saw a parent; likely in her mid-20s feeding her kid, but unexpectedly the child was choked. The woman did not know how to help out the child but looked at the child helplessly. Fortunately, a woman in her forties came to the rescue of the child by performing Heimlich maneuver. During that time, I did not know what exactly the woman was doing on the overwhelmed kid.
Fortunately, for now, I understand what Heimlich maneuver is, however, it may not be apparent to some of you. Heimlich maneuver, in other words, is called the abdominal thrusts. It is an emergency response approach to a choked person that involves thrusting person’s abdomen to dislodge the food in an individual’s airway. Boachie and Ahmed et al., (p.795) noted that Heimlich maneuver if performed well it puts pressure on the chest and abdomen to expel the food or object blocking the air passage.
You all know that if you do not breathe for nearly a minute, you can lose consciousness or even die abruptly. So, meaning choking is a dangerous thing and you have to know the first aid you can give to someone to save a life. Choking can happen anywhere, whether at home or in public. Thus, knowing how to perform this first aid is critical, especially if you are someone who appreciates life and cares about others. According to Ichikawa and Michitaro, et al. (p.419) choking on food is a regular cause of accidental death, especially among aged people and children. In 1974 as well as in 1975, 162 patients were saved by Heimlich maneuver. Ichikawa and Michitaro et al. (p.419) indicate that when this maneuver is introduced, it creates artificial elevation of the diaphragm and forces air in the lungs to expel the object or food blocking the airway. Hence, to avoid accidental deaths that occur as a result of choking, then you should consider using a maneuver.
Signpost: (Let’s now look into what steps we can follow to perform Heimlich maneuver)
Body
1. Heimlich maneuver should be performed especially on a standing person. I want to demonstrate it step by step. By doing that, am sure you will remember.
A. Let the person know that you are going to perform the maneuver on them to prevent cooperation. However, for a child, there is no need of telling them, because they are not likely to understand you.
a) Tell the person about your intention to help. This would prepare psychologically to cooperate and follow instructions.
b) Communicate to them that you understand what you are doing to boost their confidence and trust in you.
B. After letting the person, understand your intention to help. Gently wrap your arms around them. This should be done quickly because any waste of time can make the situation worse. If it is a child, just gently lift it and wrap your arms around the waist.
a) If you are dealing with the adult, to gain stability ensure that your legs are apart.
b) After wrapping your arms around the waist, while stand with your legs apart lean the victim slightly forward.
c) Nonetheless, standing with legs apart and wrapping your arms around the victim can only be done if there is space and time to do it.
C. Positioning your hands
a) Let one arm make a fist and move it closer to the ribcage.
b) With the other hand, wrap your fist. This is done to ease the thrusts on the abdomen and chest.
D. Making the thrusts.
When the fist is wrapped by the other hand, the next and last step to save a life of the casualty is to make quick thrusts. Make as many pushes as possible until the blockage is out of the air passageway.
(Signpost: It has been a right moment, explaining to you the procedures to be followed when performing Heimlich maneuver).
Conclusion
In your free time practice this procedure with any of your friends to familiarize yourselves with it. Nevertheless, this procedure is just one of the approaches Heimlich maneuver is administered. According to Bradley et al. (p.544), back blows and back slaps can also be used to perform the procedure. It is recommended that individuals use the back slaps and back punches, but it should be done correctly because it can lead to injuries. Before using blows and slaps, make sure the fatality is leaning slightly forward. Centrally, the procedure is easy to grasp, when you practice it. I also encourage you to take your time to watch YouTube videos on Heimlich maneuver, and you will observe a lot.
Work Cited
Bradley, Richard N., Jonathan L. Epstein, and Peg M. Christiansen. "Case report of an acute foreign object airway obstruction resolved by back blows alone." Heart " Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care 44.6 (2015): 544.
Boachie, Ahmed, et al. "Purging using the Heimlich maneuver among children and adolescents with eating disorders." International Journal of Eating Disorders 48.6 (2015): 795-797.
Ichikawa, Michitaro, et al. "Influence of body position during Heimlich maneuver to relieve supralaryngeal obstruction: a manikin study." Acute medicine " surgery 4.4 (2017): 418-425.
