Crazy funny -- and and deadly serious -- 4th of July injuries.
source: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/07/02/this-weekend-don-t-becom...
-
-
- singrrr
- added this
The idea wasn’t a good one. A group of fraternity brothers decided to barbecue by the side of a river on the outskirts of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, setting up their grill on a sand bar that could only be reached by a steep descent down the bank.
One of the young men, drunk and dehydrated, slipped and fell 15 feet onto the grill, which had been fashioned with an improvised spit. When Ben Abo, a veteran emergency medical technician, arrived ten minutes later, he found the man face down in the embers and dirt, one of the prongs intended for the roast poking through his stomach and jutting out of his back.
“On the Fourth of July most accidents happen because of stupidity,” Abo says. “That is my job security.”
Happily the student survived, but his is a cautionary tale. Chances are someone (actually, several someones) will do something just as stupid this July 4 weekend – and not all of them will be as lucky as our friend the human shish kabob. Alcohol and long days in the sun, combined with explosives, barbecues, and fast moving vehicles are a sure recipe for trouble. And while everyone knows not to light fireworks after doing a series of Jaegerbombs (right?), there are some other basic mistakes people make that could lead to comical, painful, even fatal injuries. Read and learn.
The Sparkle Fades
Denver resident Caley Cook calls it merely “the bad Fourth of July.” Every year, her father would gather residents of their Redmond, Washington-area neighborhood for a homespun fireworks extravaganza. That year, all signs indicated that they should have packed well before sundown. First, a woman slipped on a child’s toy and broke her ankle. A bike collision between children resulted in two dislodged teeth and a trip to the ER. And when her father lit the first professional-grade rocket, it puttered into the air and landed on a neighbor’s roof. “Everyone stood still for a second to see if it would just die out," Cook says. "But the thing exploded on the roof and suddenly we could see flames.”
A neighbor hurriedly scaled a ladder to try and fight the fire. He promptly fell into a bush. “You definitely won't catch my dad lighting any display-class fireworks in the neighborhood anymore,” Cook says.
(Obvious) lesson learned: unless you're a professional, don't shoot professional pyrotechnics. But it’s not just the serious fireworks that are a danger. Even seemingly innocuous sparklers pose a threat.
A report just released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found sparklers caused eleven percent of 2008’s 7,000 firework injuries – and that those injuries can occur even after all the sparkles seem finished, Ralph Apel, president of the National Council on Fireworks Safety, urges revelers to use a bucket of water as a receptacle for discarded sparklers, offsetting the high probability of someone with bare feet stepping on them. (At their peak, sparklers burn at about 1200-2000 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning even the left-over sticks can leave a mark).
Alfred Sacchetti, an emergency room physician at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey, says that one of the most common and “exquisitely painful” injuries associated with sparklers are burns in the eye. “Often times you will see an actual pit in the cornea.” Children, who stand just about eve-level to adults’ hands, are uniquely prone to wandering into a faceful of sparks. Accordingly, Sacchetti warns adults around children to hold sparklers high above their waists.
One of the young men, drunk and dehydrated, slipped and fell 15 feet onto the grill, which had been fashioned with an improvised spit. When Ben Abo, a veteran emergency medical technician, arrived ten minutes later, he found the man face down in the embers and dirt, one of the prongs intended for the roast poking through his stomach and jutting out of his back.
“On the Fourth of July most accidents happen because of stupidity,” Abo says. “That is my job security.”
Happily the student survived, but his is a cautionary tale. Chances are someone (actually, several someones) will do something just as stupid this July 4 weekend – and not all of them will be as lucky as our friend the human shish kabob. Alcohol and long days in the sun, combined with explosives, barbecues, and fast moving vehicles are a sure recipe for trouble. And while everyone knows not to light fireworks after doing a series of Jaegerbombs (right?), there are some other basic mistakes people make that could lead to comical, painful, even fatal injuries. Read and learn.
The Sparkle Fades
Denver resident Caley Cook calls it merely “the bad Fourth of July.” Every year, her father would gather residents of their Redmond, Washington-area neighborhood for a homespun fireworks extravaganza. That year, all signs indicated that they should have packed well before sundown. First, a woman slipped on a child’s toy and broke her ankle. A bike collision between children resulted in two dislodged teeth and a trip to the ER. And when her father lit the first professional-grade rocket, it puttered into the air and landed on a neighbor’s roof. “Everyone stood still for a second to see if it would just die out," Cook says. "But the thing exploded on the roof and suddenly we could see flames.”
A neighbor hurriedly scaled a ladder to try and fight the fire. He promptly fell into a bush. “You definitely won't catch my dad lighting any display-class fireworks in the neighborhood anymore,” Cook says.
(Obvious) lesson learned: unless you're a professional, don't shoot professional pyrotechnics. But it’s not just the serious fireworks that are a danger. Even seemingly innocuous sparklers pose a threat.
A report just released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found sparklers caused eleven percent of 2008’s 7,000 firework injuries – and that those injuries can occur even after all the sparkles seem finished, Ralph Apel, president of the National Council on Fireworks Safety, urges revelers to use a bucket of water as a receptacle for discarded sparklers, offsetting the high probability of someone with bare feet stepping on them. (At their peak, sparklers burn at about 1200-2000 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning even the left-over sticks can leave a mark).
Alfred Sacchetti, an emergency room physician at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey, says that one of the most common and “exquisitely painful” injuries associated with sparklers are burns in the eye. “Often times you will see an actual pit in the cornea.” Children, who stand just about eve-level to adults’ hands, are uniquely prone to wandering into a faceful of sparks. Accordingly, Sacchetti warns adults around children to hold sparklers high above their waists.
