Adult Choking Awareness

Adult Choking Awareness

Recognise the risks. Identify the warning signs. Understand how to respond.

Develop your knowledge of adult choking prevention, recognition and emergency response with Clarivive MedInsight.

Course Overview

Choking occurs when food or another object partially or completely blocks the airway, making breathing difficult or impossible. Recognising the signs and responding promptly can help prevent serious harm.

This awareness course explores adult choking risks and the role of health and social care staff in supporting safer eating and drinking. It covers warning signs of swallowing difficulty, recognition of choking, the recommended emergency response, and the importance of escalation, reporting and individual care plans.

Course Aim

To equip learners with the knowledge to recognise adult choking risks, identify when urgent action is needed and describe an appropriate response. The course also supports safer everyday care through prevention, timely reporting and adherence to individual care recommendations.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. Identify common factors that can increase an adult’s choking risk.
2. Recognise warning signs of swallowing difficulty that require reporting or escalation.
3. Describe how individual risk assessments, care plans and professional recommendations support choking prevention.
4. Distinguish between effective and ineffective coughing during a choking episode.
5. Describe the recommended response to adult choking and when to summon emergency assistance.
6. Explain the importance of reporting and recording choking incidents and changes in swallowing ability.

Who Is This Course For?

This course is suitable for staff supporting adults in health and social care, including:

1. Care workers and healthcare assistants.
2. Support workers in residential and community services.
3. Nursing associates and nurses seeking an awareness refresher.
4. Agency, temporary and newly appointed care staff.

It is relevant to care homes, nursing homes, domiciliary care, supported living and other adult care settings where staff support eating and drinking.

What the Course Covers

1. Understanding choking: how an airway obstruction can interfere with breathing.
2. Recognising risk: common contributing factors and warning signs of swallowing difficulty.
3. Supporting prevention: positioning, supervision and following individual eating and drinking recommendations.
4. Recognising an emergency: effective coughing, ineffective coughing and the need for immediate action.
5. Understanding the response: recommended adult choking actions and emergency escalation.
6. Reporting concerns: communicating changes, recording incidents and following workplace procedures.

Course Level and Scope

This is an adult choking awareness course. It supports knowledge development and continuing professional development.

Completion does not establish practical first-aid competence or qualify learners to assess swallowing, diagnose swallowing disorders or independently change prescribed eating and drinking recommendations. It does not replace practical first-aid training or workplace competency assessment where these are required.

The course focuses on adults and does not cover infant or child choking.

Build your awareness to support safer care and a prompt response to adult choking.

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