Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude and a chance to be with family. Families take this time of year to gather and reconnect with loved ones… even if that connection is in the local emergency room.
Thanksgiving has been proven to be one of the most dangerous holidays. The events and traditions that take place on Thanksgiving can easily lead to accidents and injuries.
One of the traditions that people do on Thanksgiving is cooking. Cooking is a simple task for some people, but to others it is quite intense. Then, you add on the stress of cooking for family members, and it can be catastrophic.
Cooking can involve hot surfaces and knives. While people are rushing to prepare a large meal, it is quite easy to make mistakes. When chopping ingredients, the finger can be easily mistaken for a vegetable, resulting in large severe lacerations and blood loss.
Sometimes, burns can be acquired while working with the oven or the stove. When the oven or the stove is very hot, you might open it, and the hot steam can sear your eyelashes and eyebrows.
The type of food being cooked on Thanksgiving has evolved as well. Instead of a classic oven roasted turkey, people are beginning to use deep fryers for a deep-fried turkey. Deep fryers can often explode or catch fire, this can cause severe burns.
Cooking is not the only event on Thanksgiving. Many families participate in a turkey bowl, a football game to celebrate Thanksgiving. When a football is passed, you might not be able to catch it in time, leading to a hit in the face. This can lead to a broken nose or a black eye. Also with all the running, your ankle might get sprained or twisted.
Black Friday is another critical part of Thanksgiving for some. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and it involves going to stores to buy more things while they have specific sales and deals. Black Friday is associated with many potential injuries including slips and falls, stampede incidents and car accidents.
People on Black Friday are always in a hurry to get the best deals and the best items. People are rushing to different stores which means running and speeding in the car. This can lead to trips, falls and motor vehicle accidents.
Black Friday has also had stampedes before. People can get trampled if there is a stampede to get into a store. Items like pepper spray have been used to threaten employees as well.
Parades are also large events on Thanksgiving, with the most famous being Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. With all the loud noises and excitement many injuries can pass by unnoticed. The parade floats are very large, and people can fall off them. But small children also run towards floats to catch candy, and this causes very serious damage and injuries.
With the holiday season beginning, keep in mind the dangers before it gets too exciting.
