Seongsan Fire Station, "Use the Heimlich Maneuver to Handle Choking Accidents"

The Seongsan Fire Station of Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam, urged citizens to be sure to know the Heimlich maneuver, an appropriate emergency treatment method for choking incidents.

Safety accidents caused by airway obstruction due to foods we often enjoy, such as rice cakes and candy, occur frequently. Especially infants and the elderly are at relatively higher risk of airway obstruction because they tend to chew less and swallow hastily.

If symptoms of airway obstruction appear while eating, such as cyanosis, difficulty breathing, and clutching one's throat, encourage the patient to cough. If the patient cannot cough voluntarily, call 119 and perform the Heimlich maneuver.

Embrace the patient from behind, make a fist with one hand, wrap the other hand around the fist, place it between the end of the sternum and the navel, and push upward strongly from behind repeatedly until the food comes out. If the patient loses consciousness, immediately perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Kim Byeong-woo, Director of Safety Prevention, said, "In airway obstruction accidents caused by food or foreign objects, consciousness is lost within 4 minutes, so prompt emergency treatment is very important," and added, "We hope everyone learns emergency treatment methods such as the Heimlich maneuver and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in advance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.