Life is dangerous, and while we can’t eliminate all risks, there’s a lot we can do to keep ourselves safer. While a lot of these are common knowledge, like wearing a seatbelt in the car and keeping a fire extinguisher in your house, some things we do all the time are actually putting us in danger, according to emergency room doctors.
Based on experience, these are the surprising activities they say could injure us so much we end up in the ER.
- Wearing Crocs - The popular footwear brand isn’t just a fashion choice, it’s putting you at risk, according to Abdullah Pratt, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Chicago Medicine. He says they see “Croc-specific” injuries at least once a week. The problem is that the shoes don’t provide traction or ankle support, so he says, “People go flying, and so do their Crocs.”
- Petting strangers’ dogs - Even giving a friendly pet to a dog you don’t know well could put you in harm's way. Pratt explains the danger is that, “You don’t know what kind of trauma that animal has been through and what kind of triggers it has.”
- Slicing avocados or bagels - We do it all the time and it may not seem risky, but if you’re holding it in the palm of your hand while you slice, that’s a big no-no. According to ER doctor Adaira Landry, cooking-related knife injuries are the most common ones they see, and there are so many, she’ll sometimes even ask, “Oh, were you cutting an avocado?” To avoid this, put the item you’re cutting on a non-slip surface and never cut toward your hand.
- Trampolines - “They’re a broken-bone factory,” warns Gregory Sugalski, the chair of the emergency department at Hackensack University Medical Center, adding that they see fractures, dislocations, spinal injuries and head injuries from the popular bouncing activity all the time. The dad of three admits, “When I hear ‘trampoline,’ I’m like, ugh, can we not go to this birthday party?”
- Biking without a helmet - If you wreck on your bike with a helmet on, Sugalski says, “for the most part, you’re walking away.” But without the head protection, serious injuries are far more common from a crash.
Source: NY Post