Do you know how to help someone who is choking in your restaurant? It is amazing how many people own and operate a very successful business that serves food yet they aren’t trained in this area. It only takes a second for this type of incident to take place in such a business. Don’t wait until you have had to helplessly stand by before decide to learn these types of procedures.
In such instances being able to respond quickly is very important. While there isn’t going to be someone choking in your restaurant on a regular basis you don’t want to leave them to fend for themselves. It isn’t fair to rely on the chances of someone else that is eating in your restaurant to be able to take care of the situation.
As the owner of the restaurant you need to take responsibility for such assistance. This isn’t to show off or to be the hero but to help those that came in expecting to just enjoy a great meal and things took a different twist. Since you won’t always be at the restaurant either you need to make sure some of your other staff such as managers are also able to handle these types of situations.
Contact your local health department, Red Cross, and community center to find out who offers classes to teach you all that you will need to know in order to help someone who is choking. Find out the length of the course, when it is offered, and the cost. This way you can contact the staff members you want to attend and get schedules adjusted to make sure the restaurant won’t suffer while those people are away.
As their boss you need to tell them that there won’t be any cost to them. You also need to let them know you will be paying them for the time they spend at the training. It is wrong to expect them to give up that time and not to be compensated for it. Should you have staff that just aren’t comfortable with such procedures it isn’t a good idea to force them into attending.
There are different techniques to use for helping an adult and a very young child who is choking. Make sure that the program you take offers the procedures for both groups. With severe choking incidents, the individual may also require CPR after the object has been removed. With this in mind you need to make sure the course you take also covers the process of giving CPR correctly.
The best types of first aid classes to learn with are those that have classroom educators as well as books you can refer back to later. They also have life like mannequins that you can practice on. This way you can be confident you know exactly how to handle the chocking victim. Some people are very panicked when this occurs and they need to know you are calm. There are also follow up courses you can take to refresh your skills in the future as well.
Take some time to learn what you can do to help anyone choking at your restaurant. You don’t want to have to rely upon others to take care of such an important manner. You also need to realize that you can use these skills anywhere so they really will be of benefit to you. Try to take a refresher course every couple of years. This way the material will stay fresh in your mind. It only takes needing to know what to do once for it to all be worth the effort you put into it.