Summertime Hot Dog Danger

We all are familiar with the dangers of grilling. One of the most common is  flammable propane gas catching on fire outside the grill.     

But did you know that eating a hot dog could be a hazard?   
 
Unfortunately it happens more often than you think. Maureen Oleskiewicz  was enjoying a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field on May 5th when she choked on a hot dog and passed out.  She died a few days later at a hospital when she was taken off life support.

But experts say eating hot dogs can be more dangerous for children.

Watch the entire video segment here.

“Hotdogs are the number one cause of food choking in children under three,” ABC News chief medical correspondent Richard Besser told Inside Edition’s Megan Alexander.

Dr. Besser explains why, ”The end of a hotdog, it's about the size of a young child's main airway, so if they eat that , it can form a plug and block the airway.”

Dr. Besser recommends to either cut the hotdog the long way into smaller pieces or dice them up to make it easier for children to swallow.

“I just said, oh please God, have him breathe.”  Joan Adler suffered the tragedy of a child choking on a hotdog.  Her  son Eric was just  four years old.   
 
She said, “They tried to save him and rush him to the hospital and that's where he was declared dead.”

Alexander asked Dr. Besser, “If someone is choking on a hotdog, what do you do?”

Dr. Besser gave this advice, “If they are able to talk to you and if they are able to cough, don't do anything, call 911, someone can come and help clear their airway. If they can't talk or they give the universal sign of choking ,  then you want to lean them over, give them five hard back blows and then you want to reach behind them and give them five abdominal presses, the Heimlich maneuver.”
 
So, enjoy that all-American hot dog, but Joan Adler has this warning for parents, “We're coming in to the summer season and I know a lot of people BBQ hotdogs, just be careful when you are serving the little ones.”