Tis the season, right? All over the Burbank, Ca area, people are putting up Christmas lights, wreaths, garland and animated Santas. I am a Christmas ‘nut’ – my husband won’t allow me to purchase another decoration unless I promise to throw one away. It is tough for me to pass up that new, shiny bamboozler or razzamataz thing that is out this year. Many of the decorations inflate or need to be attached to the roof. It is complicated and probably dangerous so I decided to get some statistics on holiday decorating injuries in the US.
“To characterize nonfatal fall injuries associated with decorating or related activities, CDC analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP) for three winter holiday seasons. It is estimated 17,465 persons were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for holiday-decorating–related falls. Approximately 62% of those injured were aged 20–49 years; approximately 43% of injuries were caused by falls from ladders; and males were 40% more likely than females to be injured.
For this analysis, the holiday season was defined as November 1–January 31, when decorating or related activities (e.g., stringing and removing outdoor lights) usually occur. A fall-related injury was defined as one received when a person descended because of the force of gravity and struck a surface at the same or lower level. A case was defined as an unintentional fall-related injury that occurred to a person during the holiday season and included a product description (e.g., holiday lights) or a brief narrative in the NEISS-AIP database that listed decorating or a related activity as contributing to the injury.”
Maybe my next purchase for the holidays will be a harness for my husband so he doesn’t fall off the roof! My husband can’t be upset with that – it is for HIS safety, after all!
Be safe this holiday season stringing those lights!