Holiday injuries and how to prevent them: In the home

It's that time....holidays.  Accidents, Accidents, Accidents.  On the road and in the home accidents seem to be part of the holiday season.  


In this blog I want to focus on accidents in the home:  According to safety at home EVERY MINUTE 17 children are admitted into emergency rooms for unintentional accidents.  




The type of accidents that happen are:

• Most common:  We love lighting candles during the holidays and this simple joy will cause more than 15,000 homes to be effected.  This results in 166 deaths, 13,000 injuries and costs $450 million dollars in property damage.  NFPA (June 2010).
• Decorating for the holiday season account for about 5,800 injuries sustained from falls.  This is an average of two-three EVERY HOUR emergency room visits.  CDC Fall-Related Injuries During the Holiday Season (2004).
• The all too common Christmas Tree fires:  Result in about 14 deaths per year, 26 injuries per year and 250 home structure damage with 13.8 million dollars in property damage.  NFPA Home Christmas Tree and Holiday Light Fires (2009)

Why does this happen and what can we do to lower these accidents?  

picture provided by freechristmaswallpapers.net

• If you leave your home and it smells good.....check your candles.  Even if you KNOW you blew them out.  Check again. 
• Never leave candles burning while you sleep.
• Never leave candles burning within the reach of a small child no matter how many times you have talked to them about candles.  Children love pretty things.
• If you have a real Christmas tree make sure it doesn't dry out.  I love real Christmas trees but I want my tree up sooner than the real one will live.  Remember...if you have an artificial tree a fire can still start so take precautions.  Try to find a place to put your tree that is not next to curtains, couches, chairs or anything else that would fuel that fire.
• We all love a crackling fire.  Make sure your chimney is cleaned out, you have the proper cover for your fireplace and nothing is too close to the fireplace to catch fire. 
• If you are climbing a ladder to decorate your home....never do it alone.  (No your partner cannot be in the house).  Always have someone with you OUTSIDE while decorating.  
• Check your smoke detectors!!  If you read the blog about time change (if not click HERE) you have changed your batteries but not all batteries are created equal. Even if you buy GREAT batteries there are some that don't have the "juice" it should so before the tree goes up....check your smoke detectors again.  As long as your tree is up check them daily as you never know when that bad battery will lose its juice.

A few minutes a day could save your life or the life of a loved one.  We love the holidays and we get excited about all that is included with the holidays.  Let's get excited about being safe along with your holiday traditions.

Please share your holiday safety tips....you never know if something you do can save someone else from disaster.  





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