Experts warn of the dangers lurking this Christmas season as thousands end up in hospital
MORE than 80,000 people will be in hospital by the end of this week as they fail spectacularly in their attempts to bring Christmas cheer to the festive period.
More than 80,000 people will be in hospital with Christmas related injuries
Experts warned last night how family homes across the country become deathtraps at Yuletide with hidden perils lurking in every room.
Kitchen knives, hot fat, Christmas puddings, fairy lights, mistletoe, scissors, ladders and turkeys all take their annual toll of the unwary and the inebriated.
Even Christmas crackers can be dangerous – let alone this season’s must-have toy, the hoverboards that have been tipping riders on their faces and exploding with alarming frequency.
An average of 1,000 people each year are injured by their Christmas tree
The Christmas meal needs careful planning to avoid injuries
Astonishingly, an average of 1,000 people each year are injured by their Christmas tree, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents.
The Norwegian spruce in the living room may look innocent, but about 350 people will fall from ladders trying to put a star on the top, or get electric shocks or burns from faulty fairy lights.
Even caring for a Christmas tree can be fatal, 31 people in Britain have been electrocuted in the last nine years because they watered their tree while the fairy lights were switched on.
Several people end up with a broken arm due to pulling Christmas crackers too enthusiastically
In the kitchen victims can get burned by hot fat roasting their potatoes or scalded by boiling water, while each year hundreds suffer horrific knife wounds.
Others have been injured when their Christmas pudding exploded in the microwave.
Sheila Merrill, RoSPA’s home safety manager explained: “The Christmas meal is probably the biggest meal most families cook all year. It needs careful planning to avoid injuries.”
Even when the cooking is all done and you sit down for the big meal you are still not safe.
An undercooked turkey can leave the meat riddled with salmonella that can cause extremely unpleasant sickness and can even be fatal.
An uncooked turkey can be deadly and mistletoe could cause hallucinations
Some people need dental surgery after eating nuts or opening bottles with their teeth, while others burn themselves setting fire to the Christmas pudding.
Each year several people end up in A&E with broken arms suffered by pulling Christmas crackers too enthusiastically.
Around 200 people will get hurt putting on a new shirt because they failed to remove all the pins, while others end up in hospital with fractured skulls caused by banging their head on the toilet as they are sick.
You are 50% more likely to die in a house fire at Christmas. A third of homeowners have damaged their house during the holiday in the past three years.
Even grabbing a Christmas kiss isn’t without risk. Many people forget mistletoe is poisonous.
Its berries contain toxic proteins that slow the heart rate and can cause hallucinations.