In a well-known episode of Intercourse and the Metropolis, Miranda chokes on Chinese language meals alone in her residence for an agonizing 20 seconds—I counted every painful one—till she lastly hurls her physique over a field to eject the chunk of meat from her throat. As soon as she regains management of her airway, she calls Carrie (who screens the decision as a result of she’s stressing about Large). After she lastly picks up, Miranda shouts, “I’m gonna die alone, Carrie!”

As a thirtysomething single individual, I really feel this scene in my bones. If you stay solo like I do, with out somebody to instantly allow you to in scary conditions, your creativeness sneaks down darkish paths late at night time: What if I choked, proper right here, proper now? If I pounded on my neighbor’s door, would they freak out and never reply? Am I going to perish alone with my cat, Jeeves, left to gnaw on my stays?

Calm the F down, Julia. Sure, choking is critical, Kirsten Bechtel, MD, a professor of pediatrics and emergency drugs at Yale College, tells SELF; it accounts for roughly 1.7 deaths per 100,000 individuals annually. However most of these circumstances happen in kids or the aged, she says, and importantly, it’s preventable. “When adults choke, they’re usually multitasking,” Dr. Bechtel explains. “They usually take a deep breath as they’re consuming—say, they’re speaking at dinner—so meals enters the esophagus and goes down into the airway or the trachea.”

Whereas it’s not productive to agonize over the “what ifs” (and there’s a stable likelihood you gained’t be chatting to your self at dinner), in response to Dr. Bechtel, figuring out tips on how to keep away from this case—and having a plan if the farfetched truly does happen—may give you peace of thoughts. Right here’s what to do if you end up choking alone.

Easy methods to do the Heimlich maneuver on your self

Your respiratory tract and digestive system are in fairly shut proximity. Normally, a little bit flap of tissue (referred to as the epiglottis) blocks meals from heading down your trachea once you swallow. However once you soak up lots of air whereas consuming or ingesting (once more, normally whereas speaking along with your mouth full), issues would possibly by chance go “down the fallacious pipe,” or create an obstruction.

Based on Elizabeth Hewett Brumberg, MD, an American Purple Cross Scientific Advisory Council member, there are various levels of choking. “An individual’s airway could also be partially or utterly blocked,” she explains (say, a couple of crumbs slipped down your trachea, however they’re sufficiently small to not get caught). “Somebody who can communicate, cry, or cough forcefully is probably going getting sufficient air. Their physique is making an attempt to clear the obstruction.” Preserve coughing (like hell) to get it out, she advises.

However should you’re utterly unable to talk, or are making high-pitched noises once you do handle to squeeze a sound out, “this can be a life-threatening state of affairs and the individual will quickly turn into unresponsive except their airway is cleared,” Dr. Hewett Brumberg warns. This usually occurs once you swallow one thing that’s “the proper diameter to go down your airway,” like a bit of meat, Dr. Bechtel says.