It is said that, in the shogatsu-sanganichi (the first three days of the year), rescue vehicles are dispatched due to the above-mentioned accidents (not an ambulance but a rescue vehicle must rush to the patient because it is extremely difficult to take out the mochi from the throat).
正月三が日においては必ずこれを原因としたレスキュー車の出動があるといわれている（餅をのどから取り出すのはきわめて難しいため、救急車ではなくレスキュー隊が駆けつける）。