First Aid for a Choking Child (1 year old to 12 years old)
How to perform first aid for a responsive versus an unresponsive choking child.
What is Choking?
Choking occurs when the airway becomes either partially or completely blocked by a foreign object (e.g., a piece of food, a small toy, or bodily fluids).
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-18.png)
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Signs of Choking
(1) Holding the neck - person may hold their neck with one or both hands.
(2) Facial expression - person may look panicked, confused, or surprised.
(3) Skin color - person may turn blue
(4) Sounds or no sounds - you may hear coughing OR sounds of a blocked airway (produces high-pitched squeaking noises, or trying to cough, speak, or cry but hear nothing at all).
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-19-1024x985.png)
Caring for a Responsive Choking Child
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-25.png)
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-26.png)
Give back blows
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-27.png)
Give abdominal thrusts
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/first-aid-for-child-e1681788177400.png)
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-28.png)
Caring for an Unresponsive Choking Child
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-29.png)
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-30.png)
![](https://parentsbabytriad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/image-31.png)
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Please click CPR for a Child if the child becomes unresponsive.