Have a good time, but stay out of the emergency room

Spray foams and "snow" can burn the cornea and cause infections. Tell your children never to point them at other people's faces.

By JUDY SIEGEL
Ambulance 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Ambulance 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Enjoy the two days of Independence Day events around the country, but don't be forced to put a visit to a hospital emergency room on your itinerary. Last year, about 150 children required treatment on Independence Day for harm to their eyes from spray foams and "snow" - and some of them suffered permanent damage. Beterem, the national center for child safety and health, and Magen David Adom have issued an advisory on how adults and children can avoid being hurt at home, on the street and out in nature. Spray foams and "snow" can burn the cornea and cause infections. Tell your children never to point them at other people's faces. The chemical, which a new private member's bill in the Knesset is trying to bar from sale, is very flammable. Never throw a can of it into a fire; it can explode. Keep your distance from barbecues and platforms where performances are being held. Don't throw matches or cigarettes in the fields or forests. Douse campfires carefully and mix the embers before dousing them again with water. Serve children meat on a plate rather than on wooden or metal skewers. Don't let children run about barefoot in a nature area. Make sure grills are stable and not liable to turn over. Call MDA at 101 if anyone is injured. Tel Aviv Soursky Medical Center clinical dietitian Olga Raz recommends that poultry or lean meat should be used on the barbecue by those who don't want to gain weight over the holiday. Prepare as many fresh salads as possible for yourself and your guests. Vegetables such as peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, pumpkin and onions grill better and don't produce the nitrosamine carcinogens that meat does at high temperatures. Limit the amount of bread you eat, but drink a lot of water, Raz advises.