A former paramedic has warned everyone about the dangers of giving ice cubes to young kids.
Nikki Jurcutz, who worked with Ambulance Victoria for eight years, shared an eye-opening video explaining how ice cubes are a choking hazard for children under four.
“Why I don’t recommend giving ice cubes to children,” she said on Instagram.
“Ice cubes have the qualities that make something a high risk for choking — it’s slippery, it can be round in shape and it can get stuck inside the mouth.
“But I’ve had parents ask me whether it’s safe for children since it will melt anyway if they do choke on it.”
However, the founder of Australian children’s safety page called Tiny Hearts Education shared an alarming breakdown on what really happens if a child chokes on an ice cube.
“When people say ice isn’t a choking hazard for kids because it will ‘just melt’. Yes ice melts. But how long will it take before it stops blocking off a child’s airway?” she explained.
“At one to three minutes, they lose consciousness.
At three minutes, there is damage to the neurons in their brain.
“At four minutes, permanent brain damage is likely.
“At 10 minutes a coma is likely.”
She said she always tells parents to think about how long it would take for an ice cube to melt if their child held it in their mouth.
“That’s how long a child choking on an ice cube would have to go without oxygen if we just waited for it to melt,” she warned.
“I wouldn’t be waiting for the ice to melt, I would be starting choking first aid at the first signs of a choking child.
“Don’t give ice cubes to young children.”
Her video has been viewed more than 550,000 times — with many unsuspecting parents sharing their distressing experiences after feeding their young kids ice cubes.
One mum detailed how her 12-month-old baby son choked after she “naively” given him ice cubes to play with next to her while she cooked dinner a month ago.
“I’ve never been so terrified in my life as when he was silently choking, no coughs nothing, completely blocked,” she said.
“I gave back blows and he just have swallowed it. I broke down in tears after thinking how bloody close it was. Never again! I think the fact that it’s slippery makes so easy to get stuck.”
Another shared: “My husband and I have had many arguments about the safety of ice and then this happened to my two-year-old last week. He retrieved it himself from a bag of ice in our freezer. Luckily with some super forceful back blows it came out — still in one, full, virtually unmelted piece. Super scary.”
One woman reflected back to her childhood ordeal after she choked on an ice cube.
“I choked on an ice cube when I was probably about 10 years old, was lucky it melted in time because I still remember that feeling of completely having my airway blocked and my folks didn’t know back blows and were trying to do the Heimlich maneuver on me. I actually think my dad might have tried to make me drink warm water to help it melt,” she said.
