Health
Choking emergency? How to do the Heimlich maneuver — and when to avoid it
A choking emergency can turn really scary, really quickly.
Whether it’s yourself or another person, knowing how to remove the blockage while staying calm can be the difference between life and death.
The Heimlich maneuver is a first-aid method recommended by most health organizations, which uses abdominal thrusts to dislodge an obstruction from a person’s windpipe.
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Mass General Brigham, a health care system in Boston, Massachusetts, shared on its website step-by-step guidance on how to effectively perform the Heimlich, provided by emergency medicine doctor Wendy Macias-Konstantopoulos, MD.
Before starting the Heimlich, check to make sure the person isn’t breathing, talking or coughing, experts advise. (iStock)
1. Call 911
In any choking emergency, Mass General Brigham suggests first calling 911 to report that someone may need the help of a medical professional.
If there is another person present, one person should call 911 while the other begins doing the Heimlich.
2. Assess the situation
The Heimlich maneuver should not be performed on someone who can still talk, breathe or cough, according to Macias-Konstantopoulos.
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In that case, encourage someone exhibiting these signs to continue coughing to dislodge the object.
If none of these signs are present, or if the person is exhibiting the universal choking sign, start by administering up to five sharp blows to the person’s back with the heel of your hand between their shoulder blades.
If the person is exhibiting the universal choking sign, shown here, it is best to begin administering the Heimlich, experts say. (iStock)
3. Initiate the Heimlich
If the person is still choking after a few blows to the back, experts recommend starting the Heimlich maneuver.
Macias-Konstantopoulos’ guidance is to first stand behind the choking person, or kneel if it’s a child.
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Wrap your arms around their torso from the back. Make a fist with one hand and grab it with the other.
Place your hands in between the person’s belly button and rib cage.
Place your fist above the belly button and below the rib cage when administering the Heimlich, a doctor instructed. (iStock)
Next, thrust in an inward and upward motion on the diaphragm. This will force air out of the lungs and remove the blockage. Repeat these abdominal thrusts up to five times, the doctor advised.
If the choking continues, go back to the five back blows followed by five abdominal thrusts until the airway is cleared or help has arrived.
For people who may be pregnant or obese, the Heimlich maneuver can be administered with five chest thrusts to the breastbone, or middle of the chest, instead of the abdomen.
What to do when a baby is choking
Mass General Brigham warned that the Heimlich maneuver should not be used on infants younger than 12 months.
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Instead, if a baby under a year old is choking, hold them face down along the length of your arm or thigh, keeping their head lower than their bottom.
Sharply hit the baby on their back, firmly but not hard enough to injure them, up to five times, the health care system advised.
Recommended Heimlich maneuvers vary between adults and children. (iStock)
Once the blockage is dislodged, check the baby’s mouth and remove any visible objects with a finger.
If the blows to the back don’t work, try performing chest thrusts by holding the baby face up in the same orientation.
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Keep their head lower than their body and support the baby’s neck and head with your hand, according to Macias-Konstantopoulos.
Place two to three fingers on the baby’s breastbone, or in the middle of their chest, and press sharply one inch downward and upward up to five times.
If you are choking and you’re alone, the same Heimlich technique can be performed on yourself. (iStock)
As children in particular run a high risk of choking, the doctor advised parents and guardians to be careful with foods like popcorn, nuts, grapes, hot dogs and hard candy.
“Cut children’s food into small pieces before they eat,” she recommended.
“Keep choking hazards out of children’s reach, keep a close eye on your child while they eat and supervise play time.”
What to do if you’re choking
If you’re choking while alone, the same Heimlich technique can be performed on yourself, according to Mass General Brigham.
Place your fists right above your belly button and pull inward and upward into your diaphragm.
Alternatively, try bending over a hard surface, such as the back of a chair or countertop, and shove yourself into the same area of your abdomen to create a similar force to your lungs.
If you are unable to speak, many states allow texts to be sent to 911, the health care system noted.
“Type the numbers ‘9-1-1’ into the ‘to’ or ‘recipient’ field,” Macias-Konstantopoulos instructed. “Text your location and the nature of your emergency right away.”
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Red light therapy has been shown to reduce brain inflammation, protecting people who experience head trauma from long-term health consequences, a University of Utah study has shown.
Brain damage from repeated impact over the years is known to cause cognitive symptoms, ranging from memory issues to full-blown dementia, particularly affecting soldiers and athletes.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive, degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts rather than a single injury, according to Mayo Clinic.
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More than 100 former NFL football players have been posthumously diagnosed with CTE, according to the new study, which was published in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
Other research has shown that military personnel in active combat suffer from similar issues, as do first responders and veterans.
The treatment was administered three times a week for 20 minutes using specialized headsets and intranasal devices designed to penetrate the skull. (iStock)
In the new study, the researchers recruited 26 current football players to understand more about the impact of red-light therapy on brain injuries.
The participants received either red light therapy delivered by a light-emitting headset and a device that clips into the nose, or a placebo treatment with an identical device that doesn’t produce light. Players self-administered the therapy three times a week, 20 minutes each time, for 16 weeks.
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“My first reaction was, ‘There’s no way this can be real,’” said first author Hannah Lindsey, Ph.D., in the university press release. “That’s how striking it was.”
Specific wavelengths of light are believed to enter the brain and reduce molecules that trigger inflammation, potentially halting the path toward dementia and other cognitive conditions. (iStock)
Players using the placebo treatment experienced increased brain inflammation over the course of the season. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans taken at the end of the season showed significantly more signs of inflammation than at the beginning of the season, the study found.
For players who used red-light therapy during the season, their brain inflammation didn’t increase at all.
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Previous studies have shown that red light, if powerful enough, can penetrate the skull and reach the brain, where it may reduce inflammation-related molecules.
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“When we first started this project, I was extremely skeptical,” said Elisabeth Wilde, Ph.D., the senior author on the study. “But we’ve seen consistent results across multiple of our studies, so it’s starting to be quite compelling.”
Study limitations
The study was conducted using a small sample size, which led to different levels of inflammation in the treatment and control groups, the researchers acknowledged.
While the placebo group showed increased brain inflammation during the football season, those receiving red light therapy showed no increase in inflammatory markers. (iStock)
Future large randomized clinical trials will be “crucial to back up the results” in larger populations, they noted.
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“We’ve been trying to figure out how to make sports safer, so that our kids, friends and family can participate in sports safely for the long term while they’re involved in activities that give them happiness and joy,” Carrie Esopenko, Ph.D., second author of the study, said in the release.
“And this really feels like part of the hope for protecting the brain that we’ve been searching for.”
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The team plans to recruit 300 people with persistent symptoms from TBI or concussion for a randomized controlled trial in 2026, with a focus on first responders, veterans and active-duty service members.
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Drinking heavily and consistently over an adult’s lifetime could lead to a higher risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study published in the journal Cancer by the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The study analyzed 20 years of data from more than 88,000 U.S. adults to determine how long-term drinking impacted the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) or precancerous colorectal adenomas (polyps).
The participants reported their average weekly intake of beer, wine and liquor intake during four age periods — 18 to 24, 25 to 39, 40 to 54, and 55 and older.
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“Heavy drinkers” were identified as having more than 14 drinks per week and “moderate drinkers” had between seven and 14 drinks per week.
The observational research revealed that consistent heavy drinking over adulthood was linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer, especially rectal cancer.
Researchers found a major association between colorectal cancer diagnosis and heavy lifetime drinking. (iStock)
Heavy lifetime drinking was associated with a 25% higher overall CRC risk and nearly double the risk of rectal cancer. Moderate lifetime drinking had a lower overall CRC risk.
Compared to light drinkers, the consistently heavy drinkers had about a 91% higher risk of CRC.
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For colorectal adenomas (precancerous polyps), higher current lifetime drinking did not show a strong pattern, although former drinkers showed a significantly lower risk of non-advanced adenoma compared to current light drinkers.
Out of the 88,092 participants, 1,679 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Out of the 88,092 participants in the study, 1,679 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. (iStock)
The authors noted that the research was limited, as it was observational and not based on a clinical trial. It also hinged on self-reported alcohol use.
The findings suggest that consistently heavy alcohol intake and higher average lifetime consumption “may increase CRC risk, whereas cessation may lower adenoma risk,” the researchers stated. Associations “may differ by tumor site,” they added.
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The link between drinking alcohol and cancer is not a new discovery, according to health experts.
In a recent episode of the podcast “The Dr. Mark Hyman Show,” Dr. Mark Hyman, chief medical officer of Function Health in California, detailed how even moderate drinking can impact “nearly every organ system in the body,” due to metabolic stress, inflammation, impaired detoxification and its effect on hormones.
The link between drinking alcohol and cancer is not a new discovery, according to health experts. (iStock)
Drinking has been found to increase the risk of many cancers, metabolic dysfunction, gut microbiome disturbances and mitochondrial toxins, Hyman said.
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“Bottom line, alcohol taxes every major system in your body, especially your liver, your brain, your gut, your hormones,” he warned.
Reducing or eliminating alcohol can lower the risk of several cancers, according to medical experts. (Getty Images)
In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Pinchieh Chiang, a clinician at Circle Medical in San Francisco, shared that taking a break from drinking alcohol for longer periods of time can “reshape health more profoundly.”
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“Over months to a year, we see sustained improvements in blood pressure, liver function and inflammation,” she said. “Those changes directly affect long-term heart disease and stroke risk.”
Chiang added, “Reducing or eliminating alcohol lowers the risk of several cancers, including breast and colorectal, over time.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for comment.
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A mysterious hum is reportedly plaguing the residents of Cincinnati, keeping people up at night and even disturbing them psychologically.
Residents of the Northside, Clifton and Camp Washington neighborhoods have been reporting the disturbances since December. The noises are said to be louder and more noticeable at night.
“We were hearing this siren-like quality noise — whirring, oscillating, going up and down,” said Clifton resident Shaun Herold, who contacted local news outlet WKRC about the noises.
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“My son came up to me and said, ‘Dad, the tornado sirens are going off,’” Herold said. “Usually, it starts at about 10 p.m. It can go till 3 a.m., 4 a.m. But it’s quite unpredictable.”
“It kind of stresses me out ’cause I don’t know what it is. It’s kind of scary,” added his son, Elijah Herold.
A mysterious, intermittent hum has been disturbing Cincinnati residents since December, disrupting sleep and causing psychological stress. (iStock)
Herold said he spent one entire night tracking how many times he heard the noise going on and off. The duration of the noises can vary from a few seconds to several minutes.
“I feel like it’s definitely like a foreign sound,” Northside’s Brendan Marcum told the news outlet. “Some nights it would be a little louder, some nights it would be a little quieter.”
“It kind of stresses me out because I don’t know what it is, and it’s kind of scary,” added another resident.
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Hundreds of Cincinnati residents have shared their theories about potential sources of the sound on social media, ranging from biblical to supernatural.
On Reddit, other users blamed the recycling plant. “My favorite theory is River Metals Recycling,” one person wrote, claiming that the plant moved neighborhoods when the original location “wouldn’t put up with the noise from its metal shredder any longer.”
Residents have described the sound as a siren-like, oscillating whirring that can last from seconds to several minutes. (iStock)
Others suspect the noise is coming from a failing turbocharger on a diesel train engine at the nearby CSX Queensgate, a major freight rail yard in Cincinnati.
While the yard routinely generates loud, mechanical sounds, residents say they’ve never heard anything like this before.
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WKRC reported that an anonymous source sent recordings of the locomotive, claiming it to be the source of the sound. However, a spokesperson for CSX told the news station that he “has not heard a noise like that on our property” and suggested it could be coming from another location.
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He added that any equipment requiring maintenance is “handled through established operating and mechanical protocols.”
According to a source, rail crews have reported the engine for excessive noise and believe it will be repaired. (iStock)
“We just hope to get to the bottom of it, figure out what it is, and if it’s, you know, a temporary thing or not,” Herold told the news outlet. “And hopefully the community can rally if it’s not temporary, because it’s really impacting us.”
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City officials recommend that residents report the noise to 311, the city’s non-emergency line.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cincinnati officials for updates.
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