When we get our children together for a party, we just want everything to be fun. Unfortunately, some parties end up in disaster, and one particular hazard needs to be known.
The person who revealed this possibility to us runs a first-aid child-care service. Her name is Nikki Jurcutz, and she owns Tiny Hearts Education.
You may have a difficult time wrapping your head around this, but the dangerous decoration she is talking about are balloons. In a viral TikTok video, she says that they are a leading cause of fatal choking worldwide.
After you watch the video, you realize why they are so dangerous. It isn’t that children would never choke on anything else, but balloons are of particular concern.
When you use the standard methods for removing something from the trachea, it just doesn’t work with a balloon. Rather than moving up and out of the trachea, they remain sticky and move from one side to the other.
She gives a good visualization of this by putting the balloon inside a transparent tube. She then demonstrates the back-blow technique, which does absolutely nothing to move the balloon.
In the end, she reminds us that we have to watch out for our little ones around balloons.
Even though she isn’t saying that there has to be a no-balloon rule, it may be something to consider.
@tinyheartseducation Balloons = CHOKING HAZARD 🎈#chokinghazard #paramedic #babyfirstaid
What do you think of her warning? Let us know!