We are barely into the Christmas season and I’ve already hurt myself. A twisted ankle retrieving boxed ornaments from high up in our garage, nearly poking my eye out with a Christmas tree branch and cutting my finger on a broken LED light are my yuletide injuries to date.
While the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” the up and coming holiday season can also be the most dangerous time of the year.
Even though the following statistics are from the United States, Canadians are not immune to the harms the festive season can bring. For a 10-year period ending in 2016, nearly a quarter of a million seasonal injuries were reported, many directly related to Christmas. The exhaustive list includes traumas related to Christmas trees: cutting more than the trunk of the tree, electrocution from lights and trees falling over; exterior decorating injuries, particularly falls from ladders and roofs; even mall Santa Claus-related injuries: kids falling off Santa’s lap or being scared from Santa and being injured running away.
While these all sound rather humorous, the truth is, the Christmas season has its fair share, if not more, of injury or harm. With more travellers on the roads, traffic accidents are more likely, impaired driving incidents are higher and accidents related to weather increase because travellers “must get home for the holidays,” even if there is a blizzard.
Heart attacks also are more prevalent during the holiday season with a peak at Christmas eve. More drinks, more foods, more stress, and just more of everything is enough to put your heart at risk.
Food-borne illnesses increase at Christmas as well. Improperly cooked foods, foods left on tables too long at room temperature and gatherings of large numbers, some of which are non-hand washers and double dippers, can easily lead to food poisoning.
The holidays are meant for time with family, not time in the emergency room.
Take care and have a happy and safe holiday season!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
