Want to avoid Christmas ER trip? Here are some expert tips
Be careful when opening cans, and store food properly.
Cooking, shopping and decorating are popular things to do this Christmas week, but they account for many visits to one local emergency room this time of year.
“We are very busy during the holiday season. Lots of folks are traveling. They’re getting around. Lots of injuries,” said Dr. Prashanth Bhat of Kettering Health Network.
Cuts are one of the most common injuries Bhat sees during the holiday season, especially to the hands.
“Opening the can and cutting their fingers on the can, cutting their fingers with the knives — things like that. Graters. There’s a lot of ways to get injured out there,” Bhat said.
Falls due to hanging or removing decorations or while shopping also send people to the emergency room.
“(They are) getting a little more active than they usually are,” he said.
The emergency room at Kettering Medical Center usually sees more patients come in late on Christmas. The increase in patients lasts through New Year’s Day, according to Bhat.
“We have all these people coming from out of town. We have offices that are closed. We have (some) urgent cares that are also closed, so sometimes the ER’s the only place to go,” he said.
While Bhat said he and his colleagues rarely see food poisoning on Christmas — overeating is the most popular issue that night — they do see patients come in days later with a food-borne illness.