A mother and former paramedic has revealed the one thing anyone calling triple zero should do to save lives before the ambulance arrives.
Mother-of-three Nikki Jurcutz, who spent eight years as a paramedic with Ambulance Victoria, explained opening the front door can save precious seconds during an emergency.
This simple action means that emergency services can enter a home upon arrival rather than having to wait for someone to let them in.
Tipping could also save a loved one’s life.
Ms. Jurcutz and her sister Rach co-founded Tiny Hearts Education, an organization that offers life-saving first aid and CPR courses to children.
Former paramedic Nikki Jurcutz (pictured) urged Australians to open the front door after Triple-Zero to allow paramedics to enter quickly.
Ms Jurcutz shared a TikTok video to demonstrate the life-saving tip which “could save you precious seconds if you’re at home waiting for an ambulance”.
“If an emergency occurs at home and you need to call Triple-Zero, quickly go through the front door and unlock it,” the clip was captioned.
“This way, when the paramedics arrive, they can walk right through and you don’t have to stop giving your child first aid to open the door.”
Ms. Jurcutz demonstrated the time difference between quickly opening the door and having to let paramedics in while they wait outside.
He also performed CPR on an educational dummy of a child to demonstrate that having to open the front door also means leaving the child alone during the emergency.
The video has since attracted more than 400,000 views.
‘Best advice. We did this when our son was a week old. About six minutes passed from when we called until they arrived and ran into our house,” said one mother.
Another viewer added: ‘My uncle had a stroke and called triple-0. Even though he couldn’t use a full side of his body, he commando-crawled to the door to open it for the paramedics. It wouldn’t have occurred to me, he did it well.’
Some shared their own tips, which included “locking up the animals…and turning on the porch light.”
“I’m surprised most call takers never mention it,” one viewer wrote.
The mother-of-three explained that simple could help save ‘precious seconds’ while trying to save a child’s life.
Opening the front door is one of Ambulance Victoria’s 10 recommendations to help paramedics provide the best possible care.
Callers to Triple-Zero are also urged to clearly number the home or business where paramedics are needed, provide the patient’s medical history, and make sure everyone on site is safe.
If making the call at night, Ambulance Victoria suggests leaving a light on and having a person wait near the road to help guide them to the location.
Pets must also remain confined.
On an episode of Paramedics TV, Paramedic Leonard said clearly describing where an incident occurred and completing all other steps will be a huge help.
“Seconds or even minutes can be wasted trying to find an address if there is not clear numbering that is visible both day and night,” Leonard said.
“Over time, that numbering can disappear or be hidden by trees, which makes our work very difficult.”