I’m a doctor — this is what you should do if you start choking on food

Venezuelan five-time Olympic cyclistDaniela Larreal Chirinos died last week in her Las Vegas home after reportedly choking on food. She was 51 years old.

There were around 5,500 choking deaths in the US in 2022, research shows, with the elderly and young children being most at risk. Now, an Ohio-based ear, nose and throat surgeon is sharing exactly what to do if you’re alone and start to choke while eating.

“Save this post right now, because it may come in handy if, God forbid, you ever find yourself in that situation,” Dr. Tonia L. Farmer, who goes by Dr. Nose Best, said in a TikTok this week with more than 4.5 million views.

She advises calling 911, coughing really hard and performing the Heimlich maneuver on yourself.

Call 911

“Even if you cannot talk, I still want you to call 911,” Farmer advised. “Put that phone down, keep that line open. The operator is going to know that you need help, and they’re going to send help.”

Cough as hard as you can

“If you can talk or you can cough, that means that there is not a complete obstruction, and some air is still moving,” Farmer explained. “So try to cough as hard as you can and see if you can get that food to fly out.”

Perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself

“If that doesn’t work, if you can’t cough at all, no air is moving, you’re going to perform the Heimlich maneuver just like you would on somebody else,” Farmer said. “And there’s two ways that you can do that.”

The first is by thrusting your abdomen onto a chair or against a countertop to try to expel the food.

“You want to make sure that the chair that you are using does not have any sharp edges because you don’t want to cut into your abdomen,” Farmer added. “You don’t want to cause any internal injury.”

If that doesn’t work, make a fist and thrust it into the middle of your abdomen, underneath the rib cage, just like you would on someone else, Farmer said.

She advises seeking medical help even if you successfully dislodged the food.

“You can call 911 again, if they didn’t come already. You can now call a family member or a friend to help you,” Farmer counseled. “But you want to get to the hospital, you want to seek medical help, because there could be some damage or injury in your throat, or even [to] your internal organs and abdomen, depending on how hard you had to thrust.”

The Mayo Clinic also recommends bending over a hard surface such as a countertop or chair.

If that doesn’t work, place a fist slightly above your navel, grasp the fist with your other hand and shove the fist inward and upward.