When my youngest was about 8 she choked on a piece of grapefruit.
She did the wide-eyed throat-grasping thing just like on the telly, and I grabbed her and did the Heimlich manoeuvre, which I'd only recently read about in t'Guardian.

The chunk of fruit shot out like a cannonball and in seconds, it was all over. The kids went back to watching Emu And Friends or whatever and I did the ironing and we never spoke of it again.

But... for months afterwards I'd wake up in a sweat in the early hours, seeing her lips turning blue and hearing distant sirens. Brrr.

If I hadn't happened to see that newspaper article and been intrigued enough to think about how the manoeuvre was done, and to briefly practice the fist movement against my own chest to help me picture it, I would have slapped her back instead. It might not have worked. She could have been dead.

I reckon I'm in for another broken night...
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Sun 7 Jul 2013, 2:05, 9 replies)

yeah I'm gonna learn how to do that now

( Major Turd for tonight only, Sun 7 Jul 2013, 11:54, closed)

I didn't.........
.....have you down as a Grauniad reader.
( The Lone Groover has mal des nuts., Sun 7 Jul 2013, 16:26, closed)

Would you be good enough to
describe how to do it here?

This is stuff we should all know.
(username failed moderation, Mon 8 Jul 2013, 9:07, closed)

Put the grapefruit in your mouth,
then attempt to force it down your throat, without chewing. Try to ensure that you are breathing in as you do so, to maximise the chance of choking.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 8 Jul 2013, 9:24, closed)

A demo by you might help us.
;P
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Mon 8 Jul 2013, 9:58, closed)

Death threats, is it?
Where are the mods?
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 8 Jul 2013, 10:04, closed)

I don't like grapefruit.
Can we do it with a chocolate chip cookie instead?
(username failed moderation, Mon 8 Jul 2013, 10:13, closed)

Back slaps are what you are supposed to do first. Then the Heimlich, if they don't work.

Actually, the very first thing you're supposed to do, if you think someone is choking, is to ask loudly and clearly "Are you choking?"

Seems stupid, until you think of the fun that would result if you attempt to apply the heimlich on, say, someone who just had a weird laugh...
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Mon 8 Jul 2013, 11:17, closed)

Yup, the back-slap might have worked, but if it hadn't I'd have had nothing else to try.
My brother once held up a choking toddler by the ankles and shook her. That worked too!

I've since read that grapefruits are notorious for causing choking. Perhaps it's because people try to cram a whole segment into their mouths as you might do with oranges.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Thu 11 Jul 2013, 9:10, closed)