It’s The Holidays & Accidents Are Waiting To Happen

With the holidays coming and going, and crazy bad weather coming and going as well it is no joke that accidents seem to be at an all time high this time of year.  Everything from car accidents, to falls off of roofs, to the cold or flu this time of year seems to try and beat some of us down. It is no joke that the stress of the holidays and families gets the best of some  of us, but there are some ways to try and eliminate some of the not necessary accidents in our lives. Hopefully this holiday season you have had an accident free one even if we can’t eliminate all the stress let’s try and eliminate some of these accidents. 

One of the most common accidents that just happen around the holidays due to weather is car accidents.  More than 418,000 are injured each year from weather related car accidents. If you are traveling for the holidays, this adds even more chance for an accident to occur.  If you go out for New Years make sure if you have been drinking to get a taxi, or an Uber, do not get behind the wheel. The amount of drunk drivers on the roads increases, so even if you haven’t been drinking some drivers around you may have been so be extra cautious.  Not only that but more people are injured from slipping while walking out even to just their mailboxes. Snow and ice makes the ground slippery. Even if you can’t see the ice on the ground does not mean the ground isn’t still slippery.  

While driving when road conditions are less than perfect, make sure you keep a good distance between you and the car in front of you.  This will allow you ample time to stop if you need to. You will want to try and avoid hard braking as much as possible. Make sure you signal well in advance and slow down to make turns.  If you do feel your car starts to skid turn you wheel in the direction of the skid do not try to overcorrect. Make sure to use ice-melt on driveways and sidewalks. Also when out in the slippery conditions make sure to wear shoes that give you extra traction.  

The holidays are wonderful times of families getting together and indulging in food and treats.  This means a lot of cooking. More than 100,000 people during the holidays end up in the emergency room due to burns.   It can also lead to food poisoning, if foods are kept appropriately or cross contaminated. 

Make sure to use hot pads and oven mitts when handling hot foods.  Make sure to keep an eye on foods that are cooking on the stove top to try and eliminate foods from boiling over or exploding from overheating.  To try and eliminate food poisoning, make sure when prepping foods to keep your hands washed. Keep food stored at appropriate temperatures to make sure bacteria does not start growing on them.  Also make sure all food is cooked through properly.  

Who doesn’t look forward to decorating their house for the holidays?  Getting the lights put up outside, decorating the Christmas tree, and adding all the beautiful holiday candles and knicknacks around the house.  Well home decorating leads to approximately 5,800 falls per year. This is from people falling off their roofs, tripping over tree skirts or extension cords, or falling off of chairs, step stools and other furniture used to hang up decorations.  

When decorating the outside of your home, make sure that everything is dry.  Meaning there isn’t any snow on the ground or on the roof, or snow isn’t melting off your roof.  This can cause conditions to be extra slippery and cause the likelihood of falls to increase dramatically.  If you are having to get up high somewhere make sure that your ladder is on a level surface. Do not overreach on the ladder, if you need to climb down replace your ladder on a level surface and then climb back up.  To eliminate falling off of furniture not truly made for you to step up on use only a ladder or step stool to hang high up decorations, not chairs or porch railings. Try to tuck tree skirts or extension cords out of the normal walking path in your home or outside to eliminate tripping over those as well.  

With the decrease in weather temperature people bring out the space heaters to try and keep their homes warmer.  Along with that one of the most common causes of house fires during the holidays is from real Christmas trees. There are approximately 1,062 fires per season caused by space heaters, decorative candles, or faulty Christmas lights.  

Memories are made with families when they go to a tree farm to chop down their family Christmas tree each year.  But it is one of the main causes of home fires during the holidays, because the trees aren’t taken care of correctly.  Make sure you check the water level on your tree every day, so that it doesn’t become too dry. If needles are falling off of the tree it means it is dry and needs more water.  When picking your tree make sure you pick a fresh tree. After you get your tree home and you are putting it in your house, make sure to keep it away from heat sources, such as radiators, or space heaters.  Check your Christmas lights for faulty lights before putting it on your tree. A faulty light can cause the strand of lights to become too hot and on a dry tree can cause a fire. Keep candles away from your Christmas trees and on heat resistant surfaces.  

Already in 2019 there have been 1.7million cases reported of the flu.  It is no joke that when the weather turns cold sickness comes with it. About 20% of the population ends up with the flu at some point.  It is not fun to be sick over the holidays.  

Make sure you dress appropriately for the weather.  Bundle up, keep a hat on your head, make sure you bundle your children appropriately as well.  Wash your hands as often as you can. Keep hand sanitizer on you for moments when a sink with soap and water isn’t available.  Try not to touch your face with unwashed hands. Germs are spread easily from hand to hand. Make sure to cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze.  You can always get the flu vaccine to try and prevent getting the flu as well.  

The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with friends and family.  It can be even more wonderful if you can eliminate the unwanted accidents that seem to be so common.  Hopefully this season you have stayed out of the emergency room.  


Sources:
beckerlaw.com
lifehack.org


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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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