If someone is choking, doctors now recommend five sharp back blows before abdominal thrusts.

According to a recent survey, about half of Americans know how to do CPR—many of whom learned on a mannequin called Rescue Annie. It turns out that this training doll may be based off a woman who became famous after drowning in the Seine, after...

Sometimes stopping food poisoning-linked diarrhea with over-the-counter medications is a bad idea because it may prolong illness. Doctors can advise you if your diarrhea or vomiting is severe about what medications to take and when, but generally doctors recommend trying to stay hydrated during a bout of food poisoning and letting the body naturally remove pathogens from the body via vomiting or diarrhea, as needed.

Because fires spread so quickly, communities around the world have deployed many tactics to raise the alarm to get help. This history from the Museum of Natural History dives into the use of rattles, bells, and brigades to gather help to fight fires, showing just how far we've come since 911 was introduced in 1968.

This video and accompanying article in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine show the then-standard steps of a full brain death examination—demonstrating the process on a medical dummy to search for pain, blinking, eye movement, cough, gagging, or other forms of responsiveness. (May need to sign up for a free account to view.)

This occurs when a patient in a coma is on life support and family members agree to donate the organs. Watch this video about a 2025 New York Times investigation that identified 12 instances across nine states of bungled or premature attempts to retrieve organs from people whose families had authorized withdrawal of life support.

Brushing right after vomiting can further erode the enamel by rubbing in stomach acid and etching it onto tooth surfaces. Instead, research suggests you should consider rinsing your mouth with water and baking soda in the short-term and waiting to brush your teeth for 30-60 minutes.

The arc toward anesthetics was painfully slow, with early pain mitigation offerings ranging from analgesics—drugs that dim pain but don't block it—and numbing surgical sites with cold water to gassing patients with carbon dioxide or bashing or bleeding them unconscious. Such treatments and the torturous surgery they preceded led many to avoid even life-saving procedures, and those who survived often kept silent about the trauma.

If someone has a severe allergic response, including trouble breathing or two or more allergic symptoms, it may be necessary to administer epinephrine, usually through an injection. Epinephrine autoinjectors—often called EpiPens—should be injected into the mid-outer thigh, even through clothing, for about 10 seconds, depending on brand. Sometimes another injection with a separate EpiPen is required if the patient does not get better after a few minutes.

This explainer unpacks pollice verso, the hand signal spectators used to call for a gladiator’s execution. Ancient sources never specify the direction; evidence suggests that the thumb was likely turned up or thrust toward the throat, not down.

In 1958, Dr. King was stabbed in the chest by a woman at a Harlem book signing. The blade lodged near his aorta, requiring emergency surgery to save his life.

Soldiers settled into trenches to defend themselves against shrapnel and bullets, but weapons such as mustard gas crawled along the ground and settled in these low-lying areas. Here are 10 items that could have helped you survive the trenches, according to this article.

These breathing devices, developed in the late 1920s at Harvard, were used to treat polio patients with breathing difficulties. Watch this video describing how these negative pressure devices work.

The cold water triggers immediate cold shock, increasing heart rate and blood pressure, and prolonged exposure can lead to cold-water incapacitation and hypothermia. Plungers are encouraged to enter the water slowly and manage their breathing to reduce the risk of shock. Warm baths post-plunge are discouraged, and exercise is generally better for recovery.

When the body responds to an acute crisis—say a family member trapped under a car—people can sometimes perform seemingly superhuman feats. This is more than an urban legend: In 2012, a 22 year-old-woman lifted a vehicle off her father, and seven years earlier another man lifted a vehicle off a trapped cyclist. Yet scientists are still unraveling details about why this can occur.

Research shows people who practice breathing exercises see a decrease in depression and stress levels, and that such exercises are about as effective at treating PTSD as conventional approaches. Even something as simple as extending exhales can slow one's heart rate and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

In 18th- and 19th-century outbreaks, some New England families lost as many as eight children to diphtheria, and fatality rates in hospitals often topped 60%. The invention of antitoxins, penicillin, and vaccines dramatically reduced deaths.

The successful kidney transplant procedure, at what's now-called Brigham and and Women's Hospital, ushered in a new medical era and gave hope to patients with organ failure. The recipient, 23-year-old Richard Herrick, lived eight more years after receiving the donated organ from his living twin brother, Ronald.

For a behavior so crucial to human health, sleep positions are reportedly understudied by researchers. This article summarizes some of the more recent studies, taking into account the various forms of problems encountered during sleep: neck and back pain, snoring, acid reflux, and facial skin damage. Most studies point to side-sleeping as the most optimal, with sleeping on one's front as the least helpful. Read the piece to see which position is best for you.

Australia is in the vanguard of efforts to bring down stillbirth numbers with a national stillbirth plan integrated into its healthcare system, supported by clinicians, nurses, midwives, and politicians. Its work also includes a public awareness campaign, more regular fetal monitoring and follow-up for potential interventions, and more maternal advice about care and safety during pregnancy.

Minimizing your risk of Lyme and other tickborne diseases hinges on quickly removing ticks. To do so, place tweezers on the animal as close to the skin as possible and then pull directly upwards to try to avoid leaving bits of the tick's body behind. If possible, try to take a photo of the tick to share with your doctor to better identify potential disease risks (since certain tick species can carry specific diseases). Next, dispose of the tick without crushing it in your fingers—flushing it down the toilet, or placing it in alcohol or a sealed bag—and then thoroughly wash the bite area and your hands.

This wide-ranging video from the US Food and Drug Administration explains causes of food poisoning and tips for consumers. The agency's advice includes that we should separate meat and eggs from our veggies and fruits in our shopping carts, during food prep, and in the fridge (with meat located below veggies in the refrigerator in case it drips).

When a driver experienced a medical episode and was drifting into an intersection, people around her sprang into action and saved everyone on the road from a potentially life-threatening crash.

Rest, fluids and common medicines usually ease influenza symptoms. For people at higher risk of complications, doctors may prescribe antiviral drugs, which work best when started soon after symptoms begin.

State lawmakers and hospitals are scrambling to protect the nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers that are increasingly experiencing workplace violence. Dozens of states have passed laws or are working on bills that aim to curb hospital and clinic violence by requiring detailed violence prevention plans from employers, increasing legal penalties for those who attack healthcare workers, or taking steps like requiring hospitals to have a law enforcement officer—not just a security officer—on-site.

While it was indeed the first industrialized war, medical science had yet to catch up on the battlefield. This nearly eight-minute video sorts through the contents of a World War I stretcher-bearer's satchel. A modern doctor and ex-officer assesses the bag's various medical tools for performing first aid on the battlefield.