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Put your hand down
When someone is coughing on food or drink, their own cough is doing the work.
Awaiting clinical review. This page is written from general, widely accepted background on how eating and swallowing work. It has not yet been signed off by a named clinician, and it is not a substitute for asking one.
The reflex to reach out
Someone at the table coughs on a drink. A hand goes straight to their back. Pat, pat, pat.
It comes from love. But first aid guidance says something different.
What first aid guidance says
If the person can cough, cry or speak, the Red Cross says to encourage them to keep coughing. Stay with them and watch.
The British Red Cross puts it first, too: encourage them to cough.
Back blows are a different thing
First aid does use back blows. But only when someone cannot cough, speak or breathe.
They are a set technique. The person is bent forward. The helper strikes firmly between the shoulder blades with the heel of the hand. It is not a pat on an upright back.
What to do instead
- Put your hand down. Let them cough.
- Stay calm and stay close.
- Watch for a cough that gets weak, or stops with no breath.
When this is worth asking about
- The person cannot breathe, speak or cough. Call 911.
- Their lips or skin turn pale or blue.
- Coughing on food or drink happens at most meals. Suggest they talk to a doctor or an SLP.
- They have had pneumonia or chest infections that keep coming back.
