Personnel at emergency telephone service and health care facilities should know simple measures to remove foreign bodies from the upper respiratory passages. Mouth-to-mask or mouth-to-mouth ventilation should always be tried after unsuccessful removal of a foreign body, as increased pressure in the respiratory passages may lead air past the foreign body. If emergency equipment (laryngoscope, Magill forceps ) is at hand, first explore and if necessary empty with the Magill forceps the pharynx and the supralaryngeal area where the largest foreign bodies (typically a piece of food in adults) get stuck. Blind exploration by sweeping a finger in the patient's mouth and pharynx is not recommended.