A piece of food is stuck, and there’s no one around… A firefighter-rescuer explains the only thing you can do to save yourself if you’re choking

Choking Alone: What to Do if Food Blocks Your Airway

If you cannot breathe, speak, or produce an effective cough, treat it as a life-threatening choking emergency. The current 2025 American Heart Association guidance recommends acting immediately.

If you’re alone

1. Call your local emergency service immediately. If you can’t speak, leave the line open if possible so the dispatcher can send help.
2. Give yourself abdominal thrusts: make a fist and place it just above your navel, grasp it with your other hand, and pull inward and upward forcefully.
3. Alternatively, bend forward over a firm, blunt object, such as the back of a sturdy chair, and press your upper abdomen against it to create the thrust. Avoid sharp edges or corners.
4. Repeat until the object comes out or you become unconscious.

If you can still cough

If you’re able to cough forcefully, keep coughing rather than immediately performing thrusts. A weak or absent cough, inability to speak, color change, or inability to breathe indicates severe choking.

If you become unconscious

You can no longer treat yourself. If someone arrives, they should begin CPR with chest compressions and look for a visible object in your mouth before attempting breaths. They should not perform a blind finger sweep.