Stay safe this holiday season
Walker Plash, M.D., an emergency medicine physician, shares some tips on preventing holiday-related injuries.
Watch the FOX10 interview with Walker Plash, M.D.
Common injuries around the holidays:
- Falls from ladders
- Always face the ladder
- Three points of contact
- Never move or shift the ladder when occupied
- Stable, level surface
- Top of the ladder is not a step
- Christmas tree fires – rare but more likely to be serious
- Christmas trees are flammable
- Never leave the lights on when no one is home or when everyone is asleep
- No heat source near the tree (e.g., space heater, fireplace)
- Never use lit candles to decorate the tree
- Water the tree and remove it when it is dry
- Check all lights to make sure they aren’t frayed/damaged
- Avoid fragile ornaments low on the tree
- Keep poisonous plants such as mistletoe and holly away from children and pets and off the low branches
- Food Safety
- Wash your hands frequently
- Keep raw meat and fresh produce separate, avoid cross contamination
- Refrigerate leftovers quickly (within 2 hours)
- Frying turkeys – preferably don’t
- If you do, thaw the turkey completely
- Don’t use too much oil
- Outside at least 10 feet from a structure
- On flat ground
- Car accidents
- Drinking and driving leading cause of accidents
- Don’t drink and drive – designated driver, taxi or rideshare service
- Have non-alcoholic beverages available
- Only time removes alcohol from your blood
