Spinal and orthopedic specialists see their fair share of injuries around this time of the year due to the propensity of some citizens to engage in unsafe activities as they go about putting up decorations in time for the holidays. The truth is that it’s better to take a few seconds to do things the right way than to take a few months rehabbing from a dangerous spinal injury. A new report out of Kentucky provides some safety tips on decorating for the holidays that all celebrants should keep in mind while putting up or taking down displays.
You want to start out by wearing the right clothing. A sleeve that could snag on a piece of metal is all it may take to pull you off-balance enough to suffer a fall. Make sure pants and shirt sleeves are sufficiently short so as never to pose this hazard.
You also need to get the right shoes on before you start your climb or stand on any potentially slick surface, like a roof. If the tread on your sneakers has worn out, you may want to grab a new pair before you make an ascent. Tie shoes tight and use extra caution whenever you’re your trudging across a wet surface.
Take your time once you get ready to decorate, conducting the activity in increments if need be. It’s better to take a couple days to put up all your lights then to rush through the task and put your body at risk. Whenever you’re scaling to heights that go beyond what you can accomplish while standing on the ground, the utmost caution needs to be taken, and going slow and steady is the best way to achieve that.
Move assuredly up any ladder as you climb it, never leaning over the sides just to hang a decoration. It may seem like a pain to do so, but it’s far safer to climb back down and move the ladder to a better vantage point than to overextend your body. Or, you can climb on the roof itself so that you’re able to keep as much of your body as possible on the surface. That way, you have maybe one arm and your head sticking over the edge instead of your entire body hanging precariously.
If you’re ever helping someone hang lights and they suffer a fall from a ladder or the roof, make sure that that person is kept still while you call emergency officials. Moving the neck is a bad idea until you can be sure they haven’t suffered a severe injury.