Holy Frink

[DreamRebel]

I'm on edge and greatful to be alive.
I almost choked on an olive just now, so PSA: when eating whole olives, always make sure it's between your teeth unil pulverized. If I didn't think quickly enough to dislodge it before I had to inhale again, I could have had an opportunity to meet Saint Peter or something. I almost wasted all of my breath coughing too.
They tell you to cough if you're choking on something that didn't work for me. What saved me is this: I bent forward as far as I could without losing balance, kept my mouth wide open and jaw relaxed. I didn't even exhale for fear I'd waste it exhaling in the wrong position, but thankfully gravity did the work for me.
Just remember: if you find yourself choking, blow and don't cough. Coughing tenses the throat, which can keep whatever is choking you in there. Make sure your airways are open wide.
I was never told what to do if I found myself choking, though. Everything I knew about the subject was from reading a city-issued first wind manual I got in the mail, and all it said was what to do if you see somebody else choking, which in my situation was useless information. I was all alone. Nobody else could have saved me.
But frick I'm glad to be alive. You guys have to make a plan for what to do if you're choking and nobody's there, for all too often we eat alone.

[brainiac3397]

Plz I'm Turk. We eat olives like all-day every-day. With the pits.

You got a plan for solids, but nothing will save you from a liquid choke. Best case scenario, you just get a long coughing fit.

[DreamRebel]

Oy. Yeah. Great, now you gave me a new phobia. Jk, but now that I'm looking back at this I feel like something of an imbecile. But I'm still worked up that nobody ever told me what to do and I'm like sixteen.... That's an awfully long time to not know how to save yourself from choking on solids. One of the few reasons I actually believe in compulsory schooling I guess, if only they taught that sort of stuff.

[SoulRiser]

Actually, that's useful information - nobody ever told me what to do either. I choke on water going down the wrong pipe like every other day, but I've never dealt with having a solid thing stuck in my throat before.

[brainiac3397]

I choked on a grain of rice once. Wasn't fun. You can still breathe but if feels like you should be choking. So your brain is confused whether you should be choking or coughing or just exhale to push it out.

[DreamRebel]

I don't know about that, but sometimes I get onion in the back of my nose. I need to change salsa brands badly.