When it’s summer time, there are more people out and about. School’s not in session, the days are warmer, and being outside has a bit more appeal. But, with increased activity— comes increased injury. Summer injuries are extremely common, and they come from a number of different places. From the lake, to the pool, and the playground— there is plenty of room for error…
Common Summer Injuries: Avoiding Summertime Scrapes and Burns
Motorcycle Accidents
One category you might not consider, is motorcycle-related injuries. There are plenty of reasons that these might occur. For starters, there are a lot more motorcycles out on the roads. So, the chance for something to happen is automatically higher than it was before. But, there’s also just a higher chance of roadway issues that can lead to motorcycle crash. There’s more people on the road, and there are also more drunk drivers. What a motorcycle driver might be able to do to prevent accident, or at least fatal accident, is to wear proper gear, ride with caution, and do proper warm weather prep on your bike before taking it on the roadway.
Drowning Incidents
It’s inevitable that with more people on the lake and in the pools the risk becomes higher. You might think that the risk of drowning is pretty limited to those of us that can’t swim. But plenty of accidents can result in drowning. Anything from drunk swimming, to getting hit by a boat, taking a dive into a shallow pool, or falling in. It’s hard to think about, but to consider it— means that you might do a bit more to prevent an accident in the long run. When it comes to drowning, you can work to prevent it by: wearing a life jacket at all times, only swimming when you have a companion, and limiting your alcohol consumption when you’re going to be in the water.
Playground Injuries
While a playground injury can occur at any time of year, they tend to be more common and more serious. This is true for a number of reasons. For one, more kids are out on the playground and it’s warmer. This means that kids are typically wearing shorts, t-shirts, and clothing that exposes more skin. In turn, those burns from the slide, falls from the monkey bars, or tosses from the swing set— are all a little less protected.
Burns
We’ve mentioned the slide burns, but plenty more burns can happen during the summer. You have barbecues, bonfires, grills, fireworks, and even sun burns… So, the potential for a burn is pretty high, and they have a huge range is severity. A sun burn can be minor or major— depending on how long you were out there, and if you wore sun screen. But when it comes to those other types of burns, they’re almost always major.
Summer injuries are common, but preventable
Accidents will always happen. Every kid, and adult, is susceptible to an ‘oops’ every now and then. But, if you can prevent even one accident from happening— it’s worth taking the extra step. So, watch your step, swim safe, and have fun out there!!