Local Emergency Rooms Prepare For Holiday Mishaps
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 3 On Your Side Health Watch warning about holiday injuries. Doctors say it happens every year, an increase in kitchen mishaps. Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl has the details.
Lots of Thanksgiving cooking is going on in the next 24 hours, and emergency rooms are expecting a spike in the number of patients coming in with holiday-related injuries.
Gladys Torres loves to cook for the holidays at her home in Bensalem, but she's extra careful now after breaking a foot getting ready for her traditional feast.
"My cutting board fell right on my left foot, on the top of my foot. Oh my God. Lot, lot of pain. It hurt really bad," said Gladys.
"There's a big increase in kitchen related injuries," said Dr. Richard Massone, an Emergency Room Specialist at Methodist Hospital. He says they're gearing up for a busy holiday.
"It's very common to open up your can of cranberry sauce and then slice your finger open. We see that all the time," said Dr. Massone.
Cuts from cans and knives are common, and while usually minor, they can lead to the loss of a finger tip.
"When you rush and you're careless, that's the most likely time you're going to get injured," said Dr. Massone. And when in a rush, he says, people tend to forget about fire and burn dangers in the kitchen.
"If you're cooking and then you leave oven mitts or towels or wooden spoons around there, and then they catch fire. About three times as many injuries from kitchen fires happen on Thanksgiving when compared to the average day," said Dr. Massone.
Gladys admits she was rushing when she had her accident, something she never expected.
"I couldn't believe it cause I am a cook. I usually know what I'm doing so it was, it was a little bit of drama that day," said Gladys.
Doctors say drinking alcohol increases the risk of having holiday mishaps. People tend to get really careless if they've been drinking.
Reported By: Stephanie Stahl, CBS 3
