
Originally Posted by
Angel"EL DIABLO"Diaz
it is true that the victims tongue can endanger them but you cant actually swallow your tongue it just becomes soft and when your laying down on your back unconscious the tongue can slide a little back and block the airway but I was taught in CPR class how to adjust the head to open the airway by slightly tilting their chin up like a human PEZ dispenser but thats for CPR do you guys think that would work if someone gets choked out would it even be necessary ?
and what happend to smelling salts would that be good to have in a gym just in case ? always wanted to try it lol
You're right about the tongue, you can't swallow it, it's connected to your jaw. The only way to swallow your tongue is to cut it off and shove it down your throat. When the tongue blocks the airway you'll usually get a snoring sound. Not a big deal. Remember when someone takes a hit to the head and they lose consciousness not to move the head excessively. There is a way to maintain the airway of a person where spinal trauma may be suspected. A CPR class should teach you how to manipulate the jaw to open the airway.
As with everything else training pays off. CPR and First Aid classes are usually cheap, pretty quick and pay off when it really counts. Not just for the guys and girls at the gym but for your family and kids also. Knowing what to do in an emergency is way better then standing around begging for a savior. The 5-10 minutes it will take for an ambulance to show up will feel like an eternity.
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/ Hit up the link, go to local info, type in your zip code and take a class.
Smelling salts is pretty much just ammonia on a cotton swab. It really doesn't do anything but give the people around you something to do. Kind of like boiling water for a child birth. It's just busy work.
By the way. From my experience (And I haven't seen it all) most of the time someone loses consciousness from any number of common reasons it is usually self-correcting. Don't get to crazy. The body strives to stay in balance and is already programmed to get back to normal.