How to Avoid Injury While Hanging Christmas Lights Installation

Whether you just plan to wrap a few lights around the trees in your front yard or you’re installing enough holiday sparkle to keep the neighbors awake at night, avoid injuries emergency room doctors already all know too well: Christmas lights installation can be a major cause of injury during the holidays. Most of these injuries are due to falls, which one of a best doctor tells CNN is one of the most common reasons people are hospitalised this time of year. And you don’t need to fall far to injure yourself. It only takes a few feet to get a concussion, break a bone, or tweak your back. A study published in the journal Injury found that, in the worst cases, falls while Christmas lights installation can be life-altering, leaving individuals with traumatic brain injuries and the inability to live independently. These falls can even be deadly.About 200 people a day suffer decoration-related injuries this time of year, says Patty Davis, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a governmental agency that seeks to safeguard people from consumer-product related risks. In November and December of last year, an estimated 13,000 people were treated in emergency rooms around the country for injuries tied to holiday lights, Christmas trees, ornaments and other decorations, according to the CPSC.