A former paramedic has revealed the popular food that can pose a significant risk to children's safety, calling the commonly eaten snack a "perfect plug for a child's airway".
In a video shared to Instagram, Australian mum-of-two and CEO of the first aid business Tiny Hearts Education, Nikki Jurcutz, discussed how hot dogs, or sausages more broadly, present a serious choking hazard for young children.
"If you were to design a perfect plug for a child's airway, you couldn't do much better than a hot dog," the video is captioned. "[But] you can minimise the risk just by changing the way you prep the food."
Illustrating with a clear tube to represent the child's airway, Jurcutz demonstrated how easily hot dogs, if consumed whole or sliced into circular discs, can get lodged - causing the child to choke or have difficulty breathing.
She went on to advise parents or caregivers to always slice a sausage lengthwise instead of into circles, ideally preparing the food into quarters - cutting it vertically and horizontally - and then again into eighths, making the pieces narrower and easier to swallow.
Jurcutz then showcased how slicing the sausage lengthwise leaves more space for the food to travel down the airway, preventing blockages. While the circular disk completely covered the opening of the tube, the sliced piece easily fit inside with plenty of room around it.
"Even if it gets into the airway, it does not completely occlude it," Jurcutz wrote.
Fans of the page, which has more than 316,000 followers at the time of writing, were quick to thank the former paramedic for the potentially life-saving advice.
"I hope everyone avoids giving them to their babies, anyway, thanks for sharing," one commented, with a second adding: "Thank you for this tip."
Others chipped in their own two cents, with some recommending caregivers to also remove the skin of sausages to make them even safer. The advice also appeared to strike a chord with parents who had either choked as a child or witnessed a child choking, with many taking to the comments to share their own experiences.
"I nearly died choking on a hot dog when I was five or six I think. Not sure my exact age [because] I was really young but I do have the memory burned in. It was terrifying," one shared, with another writing: "The first time I had to do the Heimlich [manoeuvre] was as a summer camp counsellor for a child choking on a hotdog. Never forgot that and always made sure to cut them like this when serving hot dogs or sausage to my child."
"Just yesterday I had to deliver back thrusts over my knee to my choking five-year-old. The look of fear in her eyes is an image I will never forget. Most terrifying few minutes of my life," another weighed in.
"My daughter is six and I still cut her grapes lengthways and probably will for a long time yet!" a sixth added.
According to the Ministry of Health, sausages pose a higher risk of choking for children under five years due to their skins and compressible nature. Skins, such as those on sausages, frankfurters and Cheerios, are difficult to chew and can completely seal children's airways, while compressible foods - think hot dogs, cooked meat and marshmallows - can squash into the shape of a child's throat and become lodged.
To reduce the risk of choking, the ministry recommends:
- chopping up the item (at least to the size of a child's fingernail) and adding it to mashed food
- removing or peeling the skins before serving
- cooking meat until very tender, chopping finely and adding to mashed food
- not giving marshmallows or popcorn to children under three.
