3 ms·

I'm curious to know the actual numbers (ie. force a human body can exert when attempting to breath in vs opposite pressure caused by this device or heimlich).

I'm curious to know the actual numbers (ie. force a human body can exert when attempting to breath in vs opposite pressure caused by this device or heimlich). I performed heimlich on a roommate a long time ago when I was in college, but it turns out the pressure he was breathing in with was apparently more than the force I exerted trying to get him to push the object out. I simply helped dislodge the object, but it ended up going into his lungs rather than out. Afterwards he told us he could feel the food (what was obstructing airway) in his lung.

datashovel 11y ago
Also I imagine in some circumstances (if the object is lodged in pretty tightly) the strength of the esophagus to withstand pressure would probably play a role. I could imagine if it's far enough down the esophagus, if the pressure required to pull it up is greater than the strength of the walls of the esophagus, then all you'll end up doing is collapsing the esophagus above the object that you're trying to dislodge.
omarchowdhury 11y ago
And what happened after that?
- datashovel 11y ago
  He was fine as far as we all knew. He ended up leaving to go back home a few months after, and I wasn't close so we didn't stay in touch. I can't give a long-term prognosis, but I imagine the human body probably has mechanisms to deal with that sort of thing. He didn't feel concerned enough about it to go to the hospital afterwards, and we were just college students so we didn't feel we had any reason to override his decision.
  - vacri 11y ago
    For future reference, go to hospital. The lungs are a one-way system and can't digest things - any object going in either comes out the same way or sits around. That lump of food will have rotted, and would be a significant infection risk.
    - datashovel 11y ago
      Good to know. And btw, just in case anyone reading would get the wrong impression from my previous comment, I'm not saying I think the lungs could technically digest food. Basically, in my experience, if I've ever inhaled water (never food) I generally find that there's several minutes (or hours depending on quantity of fluids) of intermittent coughing where I feel like my body is doing something to make it easier for me to expel the fluids. In terms of food, depending on quantity I was imaginging over course of several days (weeks?) perhaps the body is able to expel the solids in similar fashion. My roommate was not a very talkative person, but we did hang out quite a bit while he lived with us, and nothing ever appeared abnormal, and he never got sick so I'm guessing he just kept the messy details to himself.

datashovel 11y ago

Also I imagine in some circumstances (if the object is lodged in pretty tightly) the strength of the esophagus to withstand pressure would probably play a role. I could imagine if it's far enough down the esophagus, if the pressure required to pull it up is greater than the strength of the walls of the esophagus, then all you'll end up doing is collapsing the esophagus above the object that you're trying to dislodge.

omarchowdhury 11y ago

And what happened after that?

datashovel 11y ago
He was fine as far as we all knew. He ended up leaving to go back home a few months after, and I wasn't close so we didn't stay in touch. I can't give a long-term prognosis, but I imagine the human body probably has mechanisms to deal with that sort of thing. He didn't feel concerned enough about it to go to the hospital afterwards, and we were just college students so we didn't feel we had any reason to override his decision.
- vacri 11y ago
  For future reference, go to hospital. The lungs are a one-way system and can't digest things - any object going in either comes out the same way or sits around. That lump of food will have rotted, and would be a significant infection risk.
  - datashovel 11y ago
    Good to know. And btw, just in case anyone reading would get the wrong impression from my previous comment, I'm not saying I think the lungs could technically digest food. Basically, in my experience, if I've ever inhaled water (never food) I generally find that there's several minutes (or hours depending on quantity of fluids) of intermittent coughing where I feel like my body is doing something to make it easier for me to expel the fluids. In terms of food, depending on quantity I was imaginging over course of several days (weeks?) perhaps the body is able to expel the solids in similar fashion. My roommate was not a very talkative person, but we did hang out quite a bit while he lived with us, and nothing ever appeared abnormal, and he never got sick so I'm guessing he just kept the messy details to himself.