HEIMLICH MANEUVER

FIRST AIDS
HEIMLICH MANEUVER
BY MILTON SANDREA FIREFIGHTER AND NURSE

Heimlich maneuver. This procedure is made when a people is in trouble due to strange material obstacles the air passes through the windpipe. Asphyxia occur because the air doesn’t arrive to the lungs, sometime it happen when some food particle close the throat and the life maybe in danger of die.

First, people should be trained in the correct way to help somebody who need the Heimlich maneuver. Even this procedure is easy may occur damages to the victim when a people applies the maneuver in a wrong way.

PROCEDURE.

1. STANDING PEOPLE. Aider should stands behind the victim pressing his/her thorax against the victim back holding him/her by passing both arms around victim’s body at the stomach level, later making a pression enough with the fist from down to up of the upper stomach point but just below sternum. The pression of air impulses the obstacle out throughout the windpipe.

2. LYING PEOPLE. Aider should rides on the victim legs and pressing the stomach with the hands from down to up.
Note. Is very important that the pression made on the upper level of the stomach will depending of victim’s physical contexture, age and sex gender.


3. KIDS OR BABYS. When the victim is a kid or baby, many regards should be taken, for example: kid’s contexture is different and weak, so the pression on the chest should be gently or slight, most of the time aider may uses one hands to press only. Of course the other one is used to hold the kid.
By the other hand, when is a baby case, the aider may to procedures lying the little body on his/her knees with the back up, but aider should support the baby body with the other hand at the chest level, so he/she may to hit very slight but firmly between the scapulas with the other one.

4. OLD PEOPLE. Human body changes little on when aging, metabolism works different than young age. Bones changes, they turn weak and breakable due to calcium loss(most of these cases happen to the women's bodys). If the aider applies too strong or pression on the old human body brake bones may occur, a broken rib may penetrates a lung or even the heart.

5. SELF-HELP . When we are in trouble and there isn’t any body else.
· First, we have to be calmed, so we have to attempt extract from the throat the object or food material which obstacles the air pass to the lungs by using our fingers.
· Secondly, if the first step doesn’t work, we must to localize a chair or something like this to use it as a impact point instead of aider hand so the pression will force the object to get out the body throughout the mouth. Of course we have to be carefully, this is a dangerous practice.
· Thirst, if you don’t dare to do the before step you may to try moving the object by coughing strongly.