Paramedic's shocking warning to parents about the dangers of ice cubes

As the hot weather continues, parents are being warned of the dangers of giving ice cubes to little kids, with a former paramedic dispelling the assumption that if they choke, it "will melt".

Nikki Jurcutz, who worked as a paramedic for eight years, says she constantly warns parents not to give their kids ice cubes because of how long it would actually take to melt if their child was choking.

In an eye-opening video on her Instagram, Jurcutz reveals, "at one to three minutes, they lose consciousness."

Watch video above.

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She goes on to reveal, "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."

Jurcutz has shared the shocking video as part of her Tiny Hearts Education, which she founded after swapping the ambulance for online education.

She says she often finds parents are surprised when she tells them that ice presents a "high risk for choking".?

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"It's slippery, it can be round in shape, it can get stuck inside the mouth."

She's told her 511,000 followers that if a child is choking on ice,?"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."

Parents following the account went on to share their close calls with ice cubes.

One mum shared the terrifying moment her 12-month-old started choking after "naively" giving him an ice-cube to play with just 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.

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She goes on to write, "I gave back blows and he just 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 [it] so easy to get stuck."

Another mum revealed a scary ice choking incident led them to doing more first-aid education.

"Our eldest choked on an ice cube. Lucky hubs knew how to do back blows. I soon [did] after I did my first aid course!"

Jurcutz runs similar first-aid courses herself, but started the Instagram account to share her "Daily micro-learnings" to a wider audience in a bid to help followers "be the best parent".