{"id":59012,"date":"2025-10-03T09:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T09:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/59012\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T09:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T09:39:10","slug":"paramedic-my-life-saving-trick-all-aussies-should-know-in-summer-and-it-takes-just-three-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/59012\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramedic: My life-saving trick all Aussies should know in summer – and it takes just three seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

With swimming season upon us, a former paramedic has issued an urgent water safety warning to parents – and offered a simple strategy to keep children safe.<\/p>\n

Mother-of-three Nikki Jurcutz, who spent eight years as a paramedic with Ambulance Victoria, explained the simple but effective swim safety rule that she recommends all families implement as a non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

It takes only seconds to follow this rule – and yet it could make all the difference in potentially saving a child’s life.<\/p>\n

Her suggestion? Teach your kids that they must high five you before going in the water.<\/p>\n

The safety tip was shared in a recent TikTok video<\/a> posted by Tiny Hearts Education, an organisation co-founded by Nikki that offers first aid and CPR courses to parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post saw Nikki elaborate on exactly how her water safety high five rule for families works.<\/p>\n

‘Being a paramedic shaped how I parent my kids and this one is such an easy one to teach your kids from an early age. No high five, no swimming,’ she said.<\/p>\n

Daily Mail spoke further to Nikki about how the simple act of a high five could be a potentially lifesaving act.<\/p>\n

\"With <\/p>\n

With swimming season upon us, a former paramedic has issued an urgent water safety warning to parents – and offered a simple strategy to keep children safe\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The simple rule?\u00a0‘Teach your kids that they must high five you before going in the water’ (Picture: stock image)<\/p>\n

‘Strategies like the high-five rule help build habits whereby supervision is never skipped and a child never enters the water without a trusted adult.<\/p>\n

‘At Tiny Hearts<\/a>, our message is that the best way to prevent tragedy is through preparation and proactive safety.<\/p>\n

‘Small actions, like making a poolside high-five part of your family routine, create layers of protection that can save a child’s life.’<\/p>\n

Heartbreakingly, the majority of drownings that involve children occur when a parent is in the nearby vicinity, but isn’t actively supervising their children around water.<\/p>\n

’86 per cent of drownings happen when a parent is present meaning little ones silently slip away and enter the water without a parent knowing or watching,’ she explained in a\u00a0post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Contrary to popular belief, Nikki confirmed to Daily Mail that when this occurs, the ‘drowning is often quick and silent’.<\/p>\n

‘It happens in less than 20 seconds and five centimeters of water,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t look like the big splashing we see in the movies.’<\/p>\n

The high five rule therefore attempts to prevent this scenario because the child would be unable to swim without\u00a0first alerting their parent.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The goal of the high five rule is to prevent the potentially tragic scenario where a child goes into the water, without a parent actively supervising them (Picture: stock image)<\/p>\n

The parent on the receiving end of the high-five has therefore been properly informed that their child is about to enter the water and thus requires their full attention.<\/p>\n

\"Ex <\/p>\n

Ex paramedic Nikki Jurcutz (pictured) co-founded Tiny Hearts Education, which offers child safety focused first aid and CPR courses<\/p>\n

The post further described how the rule in their family extended to their children only being allowed to high five a parent – and not any other adult – before swimming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I say it needs to be me or my husband they high five.’<\/p>\n

The recent TikTok<\/a>\u00a0post was shared over 14,000 times, with many parents praising this\u00a0simple but clever rule to keep kids safe around water.<\/p>\n

‘Brilliant idea – thank you,’ replied one mother.<\/p>\n

‘I love this! So simple,’ another mother agreed.<\/p>\n

A professional lifesaver also replied in response to the water safety rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘As a lifeguard, I second this,’ they said.<\/p>\n

Other responses offered up similar alternative ideas that they have implemented.<\/p>\n

‘As a [swimming] instructor, the first step of each session is the kid has to ask an adult for permission to go in the pool,’ one swim teacher explained.<\/p>\n

‘My social worker and paramedic parents had a rule we couldn’t get in the water unless one of them was already in and gave a thumbs-up. I still automatically look for it before swimming,’ another person added.<\/p>\n