Epidemiology of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Due to Suffocation Focusing on Suffocation Due to Japanese Rice Cake: A Population-Based Observational Study From the Utstein Osaka Project.

Approximately 10% of OHCAs due to suffocation were caused by rice-cake choking, and 25% of these occurred during the first 3 days of the New Year. Further efforts for establishing preventive measures as well as improving the early recognition of choking and encouraging bystanders to call EMS sooner are needed.