Perform sub diaphragmatic abdominal thrusts (the Heimlich maneuver) as described for adults.
 

Call for help, or if others respond, call emergency number.

Perform tongue-jaw lift. If foreign body is visualized, remove it.

Open the airway (head-tilt/chin-lift), and attempt rescue breathing.

Perform 4 back blows, then 4 chest thrusts.

4 Back Blows and 4 Chest Thrusts
 

Supporting the head and neck with one hand, straddle infant face down, head lower than trunk, over your forearm, supported on your thigh.

Deliver four back blows, forcefully, with the heel of the hand between the infant's shoulder blades.

Immediately, while supporting the head, sandwich the infant between your hands and turn onto its back, head lower than trunk, Using 2 fingers, deliver four thrusts in the sternal region.

Repeat both back blows and chest thrusts until foreign body is expelled or the infant becomes unconscious.

Finger position for chest thrusts: Depress the sternum 1/2 to 1 inch for each thrust. Avoid the tip of the sternum.

Alternate method: Lay the infant face down on your lap, head lower than trunk, and firmly supported. Perform 4 back blows, turn infant as a unit to the supine position, and perform 4 chest thrusts.
 

Cut food into small pieces.

Chew food slowly and thoroughly, especially if wearing dentures.

Avoid laughing and talking during chewing and swallowing.

Avoid excessive intake of alcohol before and during meals.

Keep marbles, beads, thumbtacks, and other small objects out of their reach and prevent them from walking, running, or playing with food or toys in their mouths.

Here's how and why choking occurs: In the back of the mouth are 2 openings. One is the esophagus, which leads to the stomach. Food goes down this pathway. The other is the trachea, which is the opening that air must pass through to get to the lungs. When swallowing occurs, the trachea is covered by a flap called the epiglottis, which prevents food from entering the lungs.

Any object that winds up in the airway will become stuck as the airway narrows. Many large objects get stuck just inside the trachea at the vocal cords.

When food is not chewed properly.

Talking or laughing while eating may cause a piece of food to "go down the wrong pipe."

Normal swallowing mechanisms may be slowed if a person has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs, and if the person has certain illnesses such as Parkinson disease.

In older adults, risk factors for choking include advancing age, poorly fitting dental work, and alcohol consumption.

Sometimes a person choking in a restaurant is thought to be having a heart attack, when, in fact, the person has food stuck in his or her throat. Choking has nothing to do with a heart attack, but the term cafe coronary is still commonly used to refer to someone choking on food.

Chewing food incompletely,

Attempting to eat large pieces of food or too much food at one time, or

Eating hard candy.

Children also put small objects in their mouths, which may become lodged in their throat. Nuts, pins, or coins, for example, create a choking hazard.

Lean the person forward slightly and stand behind him or her.

Make a fist with one hand. Put your arms around the person and grasp your fist with your other hand in the midline just below the ribs.

Make a quick, hard movement inward and upward in an attempt to assist the person in coughing up the object. This maneuver should be repeated until the person is able to breathe or loses consciousness.

If the person loses consciousness, gently lay him or her flat on their back on the floor.

To clear the airway, kneel next to the person and put the heel of your hand against the middle of the abdomen, just below the ribs.

Place your other hand on top and press inward and upward 5 times with both hands.

If the airway clears and the person is still unresponsive, begin CPR.

For babies (younger than 1 year), the child will be too small for the Heimlich maneuver to be successful.

Instead, the infant should be picked up and 5 back blows should be administered, followed by 5 chest thrusts.

Be careful to hold the infant with the head angled down to let gravity assist with clearing the airway. Also be careful to support the infant's head.

If the infant turns blue or becomes unresponsive, CPR should be administered.

The maneuver may be performed with the victim seated.

In this instance, the back of the chair acts as a support for the victim.

The rescuer still wraps his or her arms around the victim and proceeds as described.

The rescuer will often have to kneel down.

In the event that the back of the chair the victim is sitting in is too high, either stand the victim up or rotate the victim 90 degrees, so that the back of the chair is now to one side of the victim.
 

Instead of standing behind the victim, have the victim lie down on his or her back.

Straddle the victim’s waist.

Place one hand on the belly, halfway between the belly button and the edge of the breastbone.

Thrust inward and upward.

This is the same technique used in unconscious people.

You can deliver a true "self"-Heimlich with your own hands. This is done by positioning your hands in the same fashion as if you were performing the maneuver on another person and delivering an inward and upward thrust.

Another option is to bend your belly over a firm object, such as the back of a chair, and thrusting yourself into the object.

If at all possible, sub diaphragmatic abdominal thrusts should be used in the pregnant woman, especially if there is still room between the enlarging uterus and the rib cage to perform the maneuver.

Abdominal thrusts may not be effective in people who are in the later stages of pregnancy or who are obese.

In theses instances, chest thrusts can be administered. For the conscious person sitting or standing, take the following steps:

The sequence of events is the same as those for an unconscious adult.

Chest thrusts, rather than abdominal thrusts, are delivered.

Kneel on one side of the victim.

Slide 2 fingers up the bottom edge of the rib cage until you reach the edge of the breastbone called the xiphoid process.

With your 2 fingers on the xiphoid, place your other hand on the breastbone, just above your fingers.

The thrusts should be quick and forceful to remove the object.

Care should be taken because complications such as rib fractures and heart muscle damage have been known to occur with chest thrusts.

 

You may pass out before you expel the object and before help arrives.

In most communities, the 911 emergency system has what is known as enhanced 911.Whenever a call is placed through 911 to the dispatch center, the dispatcher has the phone number, address of the telephone, and owner of the line of the incoming call. This allows for rapid location of an incident and allows interrupted calls to be investigated.

By dialing 911 and leaving the phone line open in communities where this protocol is followed, you could be ensuring the arrival of rescue personnel in the event your "self"-Heimlich maneuver fails to clear the foreign body and you do pass out. If the dispatcher has no response on an open line, the call must be investigated.

Check with your local police department and find out if your 911 dispatch center follows these procedures. If you live in a community that does not have a 911 system, check with your local police department for both the emergency number, and to find out if they follow these procedures.