Often the terms coughing and choking are used interchangeably, but in fact they are two quite different things. Coughing noisy Coughing is a noisy (sometimes dramatic), natural response to something irritating a person’s airway, such as inflammation or mucous from a cold, virus, food particles or fluid (even saliva) or an irritant in the air....

Choking is the second most common preventable cause of death in Australian aged care facilities. In Victoria alone, there were 89 choking deaths between 2000 and 2012, and adults over 85yrs accounted for the majority of deaths. Choking has the potential to cause brain injury and death due to cardiac arrest within minutes. It is...