What do you if a child is choking on hard candy?

If a young kid is choking with hard candy, immediately call 911 or your local emergency services number. While you wait for urgent medical care to arrive, here's what you can do to help:

1. Stay Calm: Ensure you are calm and composed to attend to the child.

2. Encourage Coughing: Ask the child to try to cough hard. They might be able to expel the candy by themselves.

3. Back Blows: If coughing is ineffective:

- Place the child face down across your forearm or lap, with their head slightly lower than their chest.

- Give five forceful back blows between the child's shoulder blades with your hand open and flat.

4. Chest Thrusts: If back blows don't work:

- Turn the child face up. Place two fingers in the center of their chest, just below the nipple line.

- Give five rapid thrusts inward about 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches).

- Alternate between back blows and chest thrusts until the candy is dislodged, help arrives, or the child becomes unconscious.

5. CPR: If the child loses consciousness, begin CPR. Continue until medical assistance arrives.

Remember that dislodging a hard candy might be challenging, and you may need to persist until help arrives. Try to stay calm and administer first aid as best you can until medical professionals take over.