Watch Your Tongue On Screw-Top Water Bottles
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (WCCO) -- Emergency crews are sending a warning about popular water bottles. Some kids have had their tongues stuck in screw-top water bottles.
In fact, the Brooklyn Park Fire Department learned a week ago just how dangerous the aluminum screw top bottles can be.
Ken Prillaman is Brooklyn Park fire chief. He said the call got his crew's attention.
"We got a call for a child with their tongue stuck in a water bottle, an unusual call for us," Prillaman said.
A typical plastic water bottle has threads on the outside. The screw-top has them on the inside, creating a thick ridge.
"The flesh of the tongue gets entangled in the threads and then almost immediately the tongue can swell to the point where it becomes too large to slide back out through the opening," Prillaman said.
The child from Brooklyn Park was taken to North Memorial Medical Center, where doctors were able to somehow get the bottle off.
"Just puncturing it or just cutting it doesn't do enough. It actually has to be cut up along its edge and they have to do that under very precise almost surgical procedure," said Prillaman.
Chief Prillaman said even though using a water bottle may seem simple, it's best parents have a conversation with their kids.
"You can try to take the bottles away or you can teach the kids how to use them safely," he said.
WCCO-TV checked with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The organization has not issued any warnings or recalls.
