VOA Special English

The American Red Cross says a rescuer should first hit the person on the back five times between the shoulder bones. These back blows may ease the choking. If the airway is still blocked, the Red Cross suggests pushing hard five times along the victim's abdomen. The abdomen is the area between the chest and the hip bones.

VOICE TWO:

You can do these abdominal thrusts by getting directly behind a sitting or standing person. Put your arms around the victim's waist. Close one hand to form a ball. Place it over the upper part of the stomach, below the ribs. Place the other hand on top. Then push forcefully inward and upward. Repeat the abdominal thrusts until the object is expelled from the mouth.

For someone who is pregnant or very fat, place your hands a little higher than with normal abdominal thrusts. Place them at the base of the breastbone -- just above the place where the lowest ribs join. Then begin pushing, as with other victims.

VOICE ONE:

If you are the person choking, you cannot strike your back. But you can still help yourself. Place a closed hand over the middle of your abdomen just above your waist. Take hold of that hand with your other hand. Find a hard surface like a chair and rest your body on it. Then push your closed hand in and up.

Red Cross experts say taking these steps can save many lives. But they also warn that abdominal thrusts are not for people who have almost drowned. They say use of the method could delay other ways to re-start breathing in the victim. Abdominal thrusts should be used only in cases where a near-drowning victim is choking on an object.

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VOICE TWO:

CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It forces air into the lungs and pumps blood and oxygen to the brain. Doctors say C.P.R. greatly increases the chances that a person whose heart stops will survive. It increases the chances that he or she will suffer little or no brain damage.

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