Paramedic’s urgent warning to parents about garden hose

A former paramedic has warned parents about the dangers of a garden hose after a child was seriously hurt. Warning: Graphic

A former paramedic has warned parents about the dangers of using a garden hose over summer.

Nikki Jurcutz, who shares educational first aid videos online through her business Tiny Hearts Eduction, took to Instagram to warn people about the dangers of the garden hose in summer.

She said parents should run hoses for at least 60 seconds before spraying their children, as the water inside the hose can reach temperatures of 60C – even if it is just 32C outside.

Alongside the warning, there was a graphic image of nine-month-old Nicholas Woodger, who was badly burned after his mother accidentally sprayed him with the hose when filling up a kiddie pool in Las Vegas in 2016.

A paramedic has warned over hose usage on children. Picture: Instagram/Tiny Hearts Education

“The water inside a garden hose can heat up quickly to between 55-60 degrees in the summer sun when not running,” the social media post explained.

“So this is your reminder; when you’re outside with your little ones and are planning to use the sprinkler or hose to cool off, run the water on the grass for 60 seconds or until the water runs cold before spraying onto anyone.”

Ms Jurcutz, who started Tiny Hearts Eduction with her sister Rach Waia, said to call Triple-0 if your child sustains deep, blistering burns on their face, throat, genitals, hands or airways.

“Cool the burn with cool running water for 20 minutes while you wait,” she said.

Many parents were grateful for the information, with one revealing this was their “worst fear” living in Brisbane.

The sisters, who had always wanted to go into business together, founded Tiny Hearts Education in 2013.

A harrowing on-the-job experience prompted Ms Jurcutz to reconsider her work and eventually quit the industry so she could prevent another situation like it from happening.

“This particular job was with a really young little bub,” she told news.com.au.

“The parents were talking us through what had happened and myself and my partner had walked in, immediately laid our eyes on this baby, scooped this baby up and ran out to the ambulance.

“We called intensive care and we knew she was in immediate life threat, we had to ventilate her on the way to hospital.”

While the job was just one of thousands Ms Jurcutz attended during her eight year career as a paramedic, it would prove pivotal in her next career move.

At the same time, Ms Waia had recently become a parent herself and remarked how she too had been given little information about how to help her bub in a medical emergency.

“It just became a conversation where I said to Rach, ‘we need to be the solution’,” Ms Jurcutz previously told news.com.au.

Temperatures of the water can double compared to the weather. Picture: Instagram/Tiny Hearts Education

Seeing the baby so sick prompted Ms Jurcutz to want to help parents be more prepared.

Ms Jurcutz is the CEO, while Ms Waia, who has a background in education, is the national training manager.

For the first three years of operation Ms Jurcutz continued to work as a paramedic before eventually quitting so she could focus on the business full time.

The business runs baby first aid and birthing courses as well as selling child-specific medical equipment, including first aid kits.

Tiny Hearts Education also has more than 480,000 followers on Instagram, where they share posts on everything from what to do if your child is choking or how a red “line” can be a sign of life-threatening infection.