Avoid injuries on Independence Day

Don’t allow children to play with cap pistols. Caps should never been kept in pants pockets because friction can cause them to explode and cause serious injury.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A young woman dresses up for Independence Day in Jerusalem’s Sacher Park. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
A young woman dresses up for Independence Day in Jerusalem’s Sacher Park.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Every Independence Day, hospital emergency rooms are busy treating adults and children hurt in preventable accidents involving burns from explosives and barbecues, spray foams in the eyes, loud noises and injuries incurred during hikes and visits to nature areas.
Prof. Yehezkel Weisman, head of emergency medicine at Petah Tikva’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center, urged forethought to prevent accidents. Containers with chemicals that turn into foam when pressed are liable to enter the eyes and cause damage to the cornea. Don’t buy or use them, he suggested. If they are nevertheless used, don’t aim at the eyes. If injured by sprays, eyes should be washed with tap water, and the victim should be taken for medical care At barbecues, keep children far away from fire, electricity or charcoal. Wash any burn with cold water and cover it with a sterile bandage.
Children under the age of five should not be fed hard-to-chew meat so they don’t choke on it. Cut hot dogs lengthwise rather than in circles so they don’t clog their airways. Don’t let children up to five eat seeds or other hard foods of any kind. When eating, children should sit down and not run around.
Don’t allow children to play with cap pistols. Caps should never been kept in pants pockets because friction can cause them to explode and cause serious injury.
Clinical dietitian Dana Reznick advised not going to meals hungry. She said that while many people barbecue and eat heavy meals on Independence Day, they can work off the calories by walking or doing sports. Prepare vegetable skewers, vegetable salads and other low-calorie foods rather than fried chips. Five different vegetables with different colors are advised for eating each day.
Babies under the age of one should not be fed honey in any form, including meat or poultry marinades.
When outdoors in nature areas, wear long sleeves and trousers and high-top boots to avoid being hurt by snakes waking up full of venom in the spring, or from scorpions.