SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Labor Day weekend is here, and it’s a great time to spend the holiday with family and friends, either on the water, traveling, or cooking out with friends.
Experts at CoxHealth want to remind people to stay safe and be careful this holiday weekend as they spend time with others.
“Anytime we have a holiday weekend, again, we’re seeing a big spike in travel, we’re seeing a big spike in outdoor activities. And so that’s going to lead to a lot of potential injuries when you get a lot of people in one area. So we do definitely see some increases,” said Luke Spain, injury prevention coordinator for CoxHealth.
There are several ways you can stay safe this holiday weekend. For starters, it’s important to stay safe if you’re boating, driving, or motorcycling. Make sure you’re driving sober, and preparing for extra traffic.
“If you’re going to be partaking in any kind of substance, that might be impairing, whether that’s alcohol, whether that’s marijuana, really whatever impairing substance you might be engaging in, we first want to make sure that we’ve got the travel out of the way. So if you’re going to be in a vehicle, we need a designated driver, we need to silver operator the vehicle. Same thing with a boat, if you’re gonna be drinking on a boat, we want to make sure that we’ve got a sober driver,” said Spain.
It’s also important to stay safe while cooking. Spain recommends families keep kids away from hot items, like CrockPots and grills, that can cause injuries.
“Make sure there’s always an adult around that grill, you know, we have a tendency to kind of put stuff on the grill and then walk away from it and leave it and got kids running around. The kids really need to keep a good seven-foot barrier around that and the grill. They really shouldn’t be anywhere near it when it’s on or functioning,” said Spain.
If you’re going to be hitting the water this holiday weekend, make sure everyone has a properly fitting life jacket. Also, keep an eye on your kids, especially if they’re not great swimmers. They should always have a Coast Guard-approved life jacket, and stay away from other flotation devices like pool rings and floaties.
“Coast Guard-approved life jacket is going to keep them not only floating the floating in a position where their head stays above water. A lot of life jackets and flotation devices that maybe aren’t approved, or versions of life jackets, I should say, may help your child float. But if your child gets turned upside down, especially if they’re not a good swimmer, that’s not going to help and make things quite a bit worse,” said Spain.
Make sure you and your family are following safety tips, and have a great Labor Day weekend.
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