If you mean choking (your airway is blocked) while you’re alone, here’s a concise emergency guide. A choking emergency can become fatal within minutes, so act immediately.
If You Start Choking and You’re Alone
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Call 911 immediately if you can. Put the phone on speaker. If you cannot speak, still try to make the emergency call.
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Try to cough forcefully if you can breathe or cough. Keep coughing and do not waste time trying to drink water.
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Perform abdominal thrusts on yourself: Make a fist and place it just above your belly button and below your breastbone. Grasp your fist with your other hand and thrust hard and quickly inward and upward.
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Use a firm object if needed: Lean the area between your upper abdomen and belly button against the edge of a sturdy countertop or chair back, then make repeated inward-and-upward thrusts. Avoid sharp or pointed edges.
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Repeat until the object comes out or you become unconscious.
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If you become unconscious, emergency services should already be responding. If possible, get yourself onto the floor so you don’t fall from a height.
Do not put your fingers into your mouth unless you can actually see the object—blind finger sweeps can push it farther into the airway.
If you meant suffocation from smoke, gas, strangulation, or lack of oxygen rather than choking, the correct first-aid steps are different.