An immediate remedy for a person who is choking on food is to

• A. Have her bend forward and tell her to cough
• B. Insert a finger or blunt object toward the back of the mouth
• C. Apply quick, hard pressures successively to the abdomen, just beneath the diaphragm
• D. Phone emergency for help

Answer: (C)

When someone is choking and can’t breathe, the quickest fix is to create a strong pressure that can pop the object out of the airway. Abdominal thrusts accomplish this by delivering quick, upward pushes just above the navel. Those thrusts dramatically increase the pressure inside the chest, driving air through the airway and often expelling the blockage.

Other options aren’t as effective in a real choking emergency. Forcing a finger or blunt object into the mouth can push the object deeper or cause injury. Telling someone to bend forward and cough only helps if they can actually cough and move air; in a true obstruction, coughing isn’t enough. While calling for help is important, it doesn’t clear the airway by itself, so the immediate action to relieve the blockage is abdominal thrusts. If the person becomes unresponsive, begin appropriate rescue actions (like CPR) and call for emergency assistance.