You Better Watch Out: Christmas-Related Personal Injuries
You Better Watch Out: Christmas-Related Personal Injuries
At Drinkwater & Goldstein, LLP, the holidays are a magical time for us to enjoy the festivities of the season, and bask in the sweet revelry that is spending time with our family and friends, sharing merriment, swapping gifts, and savoring a delicious holiday meal.
Every year, many Americans go to great lengths to get into the Christmas spirit. They carry trees into their homes, climb up ladders to hang strings of lights on their homes, and spend hours carefully wrapping gifts.
But sometimes the Christmas spirit isn’t always a benevolent one: a man is poked in the eye by a rogue pine needle; a woman hanging decorations falls off of her desk while trying to put the star on the top of her tree; another woman slices her finger with scissors while wrapping gifts.
Those aren’t hypotheticals; they’re real injuries documented by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC tracks emergency room visits at about 100 hospitals each year, and between 2011 and 2015 documented more than 1,700 Christmas-related injuries.
All but 500 of the 1,700 injuries found in the CPSC data were related to decorations. Some were injuries sustained while hanging up or taking down decorations; others were lacerations caused by broken ornamental bulbs.
The CPSC dataset includes brief, anonymous descriptions of each hospital visit. Here are the actual notes for some of the decoration-related mishaps:
33-YEAR-OLD MALE STANDING ON A STOOL HANGING CHRISTMAS LIGHT WHEN FELL BACKWARDS STRIKING HEAD ONTO A TV STAND
43-YEAR-OLD FEMALE ELECTRIC SHOCK-GRABBED A METAL POLE WHILE REMOVING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AT HOME
27-YEAR-OLD FEMALE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT BROKE AT HOME SHE THOUGHT IT WAS ALL CLEANED UP WHEN SHE STEPPED ON A PIECE OF IT
The hauling around and maintenance of Christmas trees also accounted for a high number of injuries:
28-YEAR-OLD MALE WAS TRIMMING THE CHRISTMAS TREE WITH CHAINSAW AND SLIPPED CUTTING WRIST
30-YEAR-OLD MALE WAS TRIMMING HIS CHRISTMAS TREE AT HOME WITH POCKET RAZOR KNIFE FROM WORK WHEN RAZOR SLIPPED WHEN CUTTING BRANCH
44-YEAR-OLD FEMALE WAS TRYING TO THROW OUT A CHRISTMAS TREE, WAS UNABLE TO GET THE TREE INTO THE BIN, IT CAUSED HER TO FALL
Some patients had also made the mistake of using sharp objects to open their gifts on Christmas day:
19-YEAR-OLD MALE LACERATED THUMB WITH KNIFE WHILE OPENING A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Adults hardly have a monopoly on Christmas injuries. A disproportionate number of patients were young children, most of whom had swallowed small ornaments. Some kids also had run-ins with stockings, or heavy metal stocking holders.
But otherwise most injuries fell within the parental age group of 25 to 55. At least some of those patients were hurt while just spreading good cheer:
43-YEAR-OLD FEMALE STATES SHE WAS DANCING CHRISTMAS MORNING AND TWISTED HER LEFT ANKLE
28-YEAR-OLD MALE WAS FINISHING UP A CHRISTMAS PROJECT AND INJURED FINGER USING A NAIL GUN
47-YEAR-OLD FEMALE HAS LOWER ARM PAIN AFTER RINGING BELLS FOR CHRISTMAS
Overall—whether by chainsaw, knife, or broken bulb—the most common Christmas-related injuries were lacerations, followed by strains and sprains:
If there’s any lesson to be learned here, it’s that Christmas can be terribly dangerous, but its risks can be mitigated. Hang your lights lower. Buy a tree that actually fits in the front door. Keep small ornaments out of reach of small children. Keep scissors out of unwrapping. And when you’re doing your Christmas-morning dance, watch out for rolled ankles.
Now that you can see how common Christmas-related injuries really are, consider this currently ongoing Christmas-related personal injury suit from right here in New Jersey.
A New Milford, New Jersey man is suing the owners of an apartment complex for – what he claims to be – negligently leaving a Christmas tree outside by the curb for trash pickup. On the morning of March 12, 2015, the tree was at least partially left on the sidewalk according to the lawsuit filed in Bergen County Superior Court.
His lawyer claims the landlord “recklessly, carelessly and/or negligently” allowed an unsafe hazard – the discarded Christmas tree, set out for trash pickup.
“The plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries, was disabled and disfigured, has suffered and will continue to suffer great pain and torment, both mental and physical,” claims the suit. The attorney goes on to say that his client has been unable to work or even proceed with daily activities.
If you or a loved one should find yourself in a similar situation – unfortunately injured during this joyous time of year – please contact Drinkwater & Goldstein, LLP to receive a free consultation over the phone.
As always, from everyone here at Drinkwater & Goldstein, LLP, we hope you have a very happy, blessed, and safe Holiday season!
Content of this article is not the original product of Drinkwater & Goldstein, LLP. Reposted from its original source, here: https://qz.com/859303/americas-most-common-christmas-related-injuries-in-charts/
http://nj1015.com/nj-man-christmas-tree-lawsuit/?trackback=tsmclip
