Friday 25 December 2009

Just When I Thought Christmas Would Be A Joy,

it turns out to be a very dangerous time of the year, in the UK alone more than 35,000 children aged under 15 go to A&E after an accident involving a toy each year, says The Children's Foundation charity, and for us older folks, we are particularly vulnerable to choking on our Christmas dinner, Dr Heyworth says: "We will always see someone who chokes over Christmas, often the elderly, "They will choke on a piece of meat because they don't chew it properly, if people are looking after or hosting elderly people for dinner, it is important to take extra care of them." note to Diana 'look after Stan!' and don't end up in A&E with a turkey tum, more than 80 per cent of people mistakenly wash their turkeys before cooking, the Food Standards Agency says, this increases the risk of food poisoning as harmful bacteria splash from raw meat on to work surfaces, microbiologist Dr Robert Lambkin-Williams says: "It's simply not possible to wash off the harmful bacteria - the only way to kill it is by cooking the bird thoroughly." Emma Powditch, eye casualty sister at Southampton University Hospitals Trust (SUHT), says people often hurt themselves by getting over-excited during the festivities, injuries include exploding Christmas tree lights, which cause small burns to eyelids, and catching zips on eyelids while trying on new jumpers, She explains: "We see a few injuries from corks hitting the eye, which causes significant bruising and swelling," and in an amazing flash of common sense she says, "Open bottles pointing away from yourself and others to avoid injury." Rob Crouch, emergency department consultant nurse at SUHT, has seen many cases of people trying to remove stones from avocados at Christmas but slicing their hand instead, He explains: "Instead of putting a knife across the stone and twisting, people tend to stab down, the knife then either goes through, or slips off into, the hand." flamboyant carving after a few glasses of wine can lead to bad cuts, too, Dr Heyworth, who is also president of the College of Emergency Medicine, says: "People sticking carving knives into their arms and forearms is quite common." to prevent the turkey slipping when you slice - a common cause of accidents - hold the meat down with a fork while you carve, so to sum up to have a happy Christmas avoid, toys, food, Christmas tree lights, new jumpers, alcohol, avocados and carving meat, safe at last, Merry Christmas!

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