REVEALED: Five rules to keep young children safe from accidents, according to a former paramedic
- Replies 7
To avoid harmful and potentially fatal accidents involving young children, an Aussie health professional has listed the top five rules she wants all parents and grandparents to follow at home and out in public.
Nikki Jurcutz, the founder of Tiny Hearts Education and a mum of two, has been a paramedic with advanced life support experience for many years.
In one of her most recent videos on TikTok, she listed the following rules:
A mum who used to be a paramedic has shared her top five safety rules for children. Credit: TikTok/tinyheartseducation.
The first rule that Ms Jurcutz has for her children is that they can't eat whole nuts until they are at least five years old. Why? Because they might choke on one.
She cautioned against feeding whole nuts to young toddlers since they can choke on one, even if it is broken in half. Instead of chopping them, she suggests using a grinder or a food processor instead. You could also just give the kids a thin slice of nut paste, like peanut butter, instead.
As long as it's feasible, Ms Jurcutz's second rule is to keep children in rear-facing car seats because it's the 'safest way should there be an accident'.
Under current Australian law, infants under six months must be secured in a rear-facing car seat, but older children are permitted to use front-facing seats with the proper restraints and harnesses.
Ms Jurcutz advises, however, that parents put their children in rear-facing car seats even if they're already older than six months because doing so reduces the possibility of significant injury or even death in the event of an unfortunate accident.
Keeping your child in a rear-facing car seat is the safest strategy to prevent a serious injury in an accident. Credit: Intermountain Healthcare.
Rule number three is there should be no eating done inside the car, especially while on the road.
'Choking is silent, and it is extremely dangerous if you are driving and notice your little one is choking,' the paramedic said in the clip.
This restriction is 'non-negotiable', according to the concerned mum, who previously stated that she will only feed her children a snack in the car if someone else is driving and she can watch them from the backseat.
When children are around any type of water, the mum's fourth rule states that they should always be under direct adult supervision.
Data from the United Nations show that drowning is the world's biggest cause of unintentional death for children between the ages of one and three.
As Ms Jurcutz noted, it's crucial to keep a close eye on kids whenever they are near water because drowning may occur 'in only small amounts of water, in just 20 seconds, and is silent'.
Button batteries, also called lithium coin cell batteries, are small enough to be swallowed. Credit: Which.co.uk.
The former paramedic claimed that her fifth and final rule is that button batteries are not allowed in her house.
Many children's toys, especially ones that light up or make sounds, are powered by button batteries. A wide variety of home goods, such as remote controls, calculators, clocks, torches, flameless candles, digital scales for the kitchen or bathroom, and thermometers, use them as well.
The coin-sized batteries are a serious choking hazard for young children and can easily get stuck in their throats, making it hard for them to breathe or causing severe burns when saliva causes a chemical reaction.
The mum's video on the platform has already received over a million views, and plenty of parents and grandparents who commented agreed with her instructions.
They also shared and suggested their rules for keeping their own homes safe from accidents that could have been easily prevented.
'All good points!' said one mum in the comments, adding that when feeding children grapes, adults should slice them lengthways to avoid being a choking hazard.
A second mum, who happens to be a former animal control ranger, also added her own suggestions. 'Constant supervision around kids and dogs, and no dogs in the kids' faces,' she wrote in her comment.
A third mum added more tips. 'Don't have any blind cords hanging, and don't have buckets of water in the laundry for soaking. You should also have a safe spot where you can see the children when you're reversing your car,' she went on to say.
What are your thoughts, folks? Do you have more child-safety tips to add to the list? Share them with us in the comments section below!
Nikki Jurcutz, the founder of Tiny Hearts Education and a mum of two, has been a paramedic with advanced life support experience for many years.
In one of her most recent videos on TikTok, she listed the following rules:
A mum who used to be a paramedic has shared her top five safety rules for children. Credit: TikTok/tinyheartseducation.
The first rule that Ms Jurcutz has for her children is that they can't eat whole nuts until they are at least five years old. Why? Because they might choke on one.
She cautioned against feeding whole nuts to young toddlers since they can choke on one, even if it is broken in half. Instead of chopping them, she suggests using a grinder or a food processor instead. You could also just give the kids a thin slice of nut paste, like peanut butter, instead.
As long as it's feasible, Ms Jurcutz's second rule is to keep children in rear-facing car seats because it's the 'safest way should there be an accident'.
Under current Australian law, infants under six months must be secured in a rear-facing car seat, but older children are permitted to use front-facing seats with the proper restraints and harnesses.
Ms Jurcutz advises, however, that parents put their children in rear-facing car seats even if they're already older than six months because doing so reduces the possibility of significant injury or even death in the event of an unfortunate accident.
Keeping your child in a rear-facing car seat is the safest strategy to prevent a serious injury in an accident. Credit: Intermountain Healthcare.
Rule number three is there should be no eating done inside the car, especially while on the road.
'Choking is silent, and it is extremely dangerous if you are driving and notice your little one is choking,' the paramedic said in the clip.
This restriction is 'non-negotiable', according to the concerned mum, who previously stated that she will only feed her children a snack in the car if someone else is driving and she can watch them from the backseat.
When children are around any type of water, the mum's fourth rule states that they should always be under direct adult supervision.
Data from the United Nations show that drowning is the world's biggest cause of unintentional death for children between the ages of one and three.
As Ms Jurcutz noted, it's crucial to keep a close eye on kids whenever they are near water because drowning may occur 'in only small amounts of water, in just 20 seconds, and is silent'.
Button batteries, also called lithium coin cell batteries, are small enough to be swallowed. Credit: Which.co.uk.
The former paramedic claimed that her fifth and final rule is that button batteries are not allowed in her house.
Many children's toys, especially ones that light up or make sounds, are powered by button batteries. A wide variety of home goods, such as remote controls, calculators, clocks, torches, flameless candles, digital scales for the kitchen or bathroom, and thermometers, use them as well.
The coin-sized batteries are a serious choking hazard for young children and can easily get stuck in their throats, making it hard for them to breathe or causing severe burns when saliva causes a chemical reaction.
The mum's video on the platform has already received over a million views, and plenty of parents and grandparents who commented agreed with her instructions.
They also shared and suggested their rules for keeping their own homes safe from accidents that could have been easily prevented.
'All good points!' said one mum in the comments, adding that when feeding children grapes, adults should slice them lengthways to avoid being a choking hazard.
A second mum, who happens to be a former animal control ranger, also added her own suggestions. 'Constant supervision around kids and dogs, and no dogs in the kids' faces,' she wrote in her comment.
A third mum added more tips. 'Don't have any blind cords hanging, and don't have buckets of water in the laundry for soaking. You should also have a safe spot where you can see the children when you're reversing your car,' she went on to say.
What are your thoughts, folks? Do you have more child-safety tips to add to the list? Share them with us in the comments section below!
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