The Most Common Home Injuries

The home is often regarded as a bastion of safety and tranquility, but according to nationwide studies, nothing could be further from the truth. Poisonings, falls, and medication overdoses are at the top of the list of debilitating accidents and even death. More surprisingly, it is not just children that succumb to injury and death, but many young and older adults fall prey to the same incidents.

Making your home a safer place does not take much money, just a little ingenuity and awareness for potentially life threatening situations. It's very easy to assume that nothing will happen just because you have always done things a certain way. However, risk to life and limb is a numbers game and anything that we can do to beat the odds should be implemented.

1. Medications.

Be sure to read the instructions carefully and never assume that one drug is compatible with another unless discussed with your doctor. Side effects from deadly combos may include cardiac arrest, stroke and worse. In addition, your medications should never be left in a place where young children can get a hold of the bottle. This would include the bathroom medicine cabinet and low-lying shelves in the kitchen. Try a safe storage in a bedroom drawer or some creative place that younger family members cannot access.

2. Bracing Heavy Objects.

Whether you live in an earthquake zone or not, its always a good idea to secure heavy objects that have a capability to tip. This includes televisions sets, bookcases and full-length mirrors. Braces may be found at Home Depot and similar outlets that cater to home repair, often costing less than what you would spend on a Big Mac. These easy to install straps can mean life or death in a dire situation with youngsters climbing on furniture and also safeguard a slip and fall incident should you grab the nearest object in your path.

3. Toxins.

We all know how dangerous toxic solutions are to children, and most people are aware to store them in high cupboards or in the garage. However, another danger lurks in your cleaning materials that can cause serious lung damage. Be sure to use only one cleanser at a time to keep the chemicals from reacting to one another. This is especially true with using bleach, which can act as a catalyst for noxious fumes causing shortness of breath.

4. Pool Safety.

The swimming pool should be the most guarded area of the home when young children are present. Accidental drowning takes only minutes when a pool and toddler collide, so be sure to keep a gate around the pool perimeter or keep the patio access door locked.

5. Water On The Floor..

A serious injury from a slip and fall can happen to anyone at any age, and it is the number one cause of injury in the home. Simple safety precautions such as using area carpets and bath mats with a sticky protective coating on the back can make the difference from standing upright or landing face first on the tile. Also be sure that your floors are dry before allowing the traffic back into the kitchen and provide a heavy duty mat at the main entrances. Persons will disabilities may also wish to install a handrail inside the bathtub or shower for added stability on a wet surface. As innocuous as water on the floor seems to be, we need to realize that it not only causes most of the falls in the home, but is also responsible for many restaurant injuries to staff and customers.