How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver

Video Transcript

CAPT. JOE BRUNI: Hi, I am Capt. Joe Bruni with over three decades of firefighting and emergency medical service experience. I am going to cover the steps for performing abdominal thrust known as the Heimlich maneuver on a choking individual that needs assistance. The individual will normally give the international that they are chocking. I will determine whether or not they need my assistance and the abdominal thrust. I would ask, "Are you choking?" If the patient is coughing or wheezing, stand by and do not assist the patient, but you may want to activate the emergency response system to get help on the way. If the patient cannot breathe or is not coughing, we would move around to the backside of the patient, take one hand and make a fist and place the thumb of that fist just above the navel, about halfway between the breast bone and the navel. Cover the other hand over the top of the fist and perform hard, upward thrusts into the abdomen to try and clear the object. If the patient becomes unresponsive, you would then lay the person to the ground face up and begin the steps of CPR if they become unresponsive. The first thing that we want to look at when a person is choking is whether or not they are actually moving air. They will the international sign for choking and we will ask them, "Are you choking." If they response, assist them or coach them to try and clear the object. If they cannot cough or cannot breathe, move around to the backside of the patient and form the hands, fist first would be your second step, hand covering the fist, placing the thumb above the navel as the third step, about halfway between the navel and the breast bone, and as the fourth step deliver the abdominal thrust until the object clears. As the fifth step, if the person becomes unresponsive, lower them to the ground face up and begin the steps of CPR.