What would you do if someone was choking?

Skid

Skid

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Skid
Flying along in a 172, nearest airport is 20 miles away, you and a passenger decide to eat a turkey sandwich, hit some unexpected light turbulence, passenger is now choking, what do?

Is the only option really slapping on the back as hard as you can, since the heimlich maneuver can't really be done? Would you land on the nearest road to get out and have more of an opportunity to resuscitate? Nearest airport seems like too much time to save them.
 
assuming the nearest airfield is not an option i'd consider this an in-flight emergency, declare and head for the nearest and best option...which might not be a road.
 
Skid said:
Flying along in a 172, nearest airport is 20 miles away, you and a passenger decide to eat a turkey sandwich, hit some unexpected light turbulence, passenger is now choking, what do?

Is the only option really slapping on the back as hard as you can, since the heimlich maneuver can't really be done? Would you land on the nearest road to get out and have more of an opportunity to resuscitate? Nearest airport seems like too much time to save them.
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Tell him I banged his wife/mother/sister/daughter.

The shock probably makes him cough up the sandwich.
 
Do a 0 G pushover while simultaneously striking them hard in the chest. Works every time.
 
EdFred said:
Tell him I banged his wife/mother/sister/daughter.

The shock probably makes him cough up the sandwich.
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that would be shocking to hear a gay guy banged someone's wife/mother/sister/daughter.



wait, all 4 at the same time? DEF shocking.
 
Do a 1.76g pushover if you're operating in utility category. In normal category, hope -1.52g will do it.
 
Elbow just below the diaphragm, not the chest.
 
Skid said:
Is the only option really slapping on the back as hard as you can, since the heimlich maneuver can't really be done?
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About the worst thing you can do is slap someone on the back when they are choking and they are sitting up. Encourage them to cough as hard as they can. Unbuckle their seat belt, turn them and do the best you can to give them the Heimlich to the best of your ability.
 
Declare medical emergency. Then I would try the heimlich or anything I could think of in the probably 60 seconds before they pass out. The hardest part will be ignoring them on the landing if whatever I tried didn’t work.
 
I actually had a medical emergency several years ago flying traffic. A few minutes after takeoff my reporter riding in the left seat became unresponsive, slumped over, and stopped breathing.

My in-air resuscitation activities were limited to tightening her belt to prevent her from interfering with the controls. I hightailed it back to the airport, having declared an emergency and contacting the Unicom guy to call 911 for a medical emergency.

Upon landing I lifted her out of the 172 and got her on the ground, head tilt chin lifted. Moments later the medics showed up. I was told she was on some pretty serious medication and had a bad reaction to a change in meds, drug interaction, or something to that affect. She fully recovered but it was a bit scary.

My immediate reaction was to fly the plane, which obviously was the correct thing to do. Not a lot I could do at 1200agl. Had I been higher or farther away, I'm not sure my reaction would have been any different.
I've since gotten my EMT certification (and volunteered with my local FD), partially because of the feeling of not really knowing what to do for the moment between getting her out of the plane and when the medics arrived. Regardless, all the medical training in the world can't help you if your job is to fly the airplane. So fly the airplane.

Back to the OP's issue. Your best bet is to coach them by reminding them to be calm. Move their headset microphone out of the way. Often a choking is not a complete blockage, but enough to inhibit normal breathing. Panic sets in very quickly, and often the panic causes the blockage to be pushed further as they forcefully gasp for air. They need to do the opposite. Encourage slow inhalation and a hard exhalation. Unless you have a backseater with extremely long arms, abdominal thrusts will be challenging. You're going to want to start planning an immediate landing somewhere.
 
As a Steelers fan, if someone was choking in my plane, I'd wonder WTF Mike Tomlin was doing in my plane.
 
Unbuckle them and have them self-perform the heimlich over a yoke arm. Try not to crash while that is going on.
 
As one who has been saved by the Heimlich maneuver, I'm all in favor of that option. I've also been trained in emergency first aid (many years ago) and I'd recommend trying it if at all possible.
 
woodchucker said:
Unbuckle them and have them self-perform the heimlich over a yoke arm. Try not to crash while that is going on.
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That seems like a really bad idea. You don't want someone who is panicking to have access to the flight controls. On a Cessna or piper type aircraft, you're more likely to cause the shaft of the control yoke to bend potentially affecting the controllability of the aircraft.

You're better off having that person turnaround on their knees, using the top of the backrest to thrust into their abdomen.
 
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