NEW YORK (July 2011) — Take extra care this Fourth of July and at all of your summer celebrations by ensuring that accidents do not interfere with summer fun. Dr. Roger Yurt, director of the Hearst Burn Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, recommends the following safety tips to avoid burns from barbecues, fireworks and other routine activities that can pose a hazard this season.
Fireworks displays:
- Fireworks and sparklers should be handled by trained professionals. Sparklers can get as hot as 1,200 degrees!
- Stay at least 500 feet away from the fireworks display.
Barbecue tips:
- Always open the cover before lighting a gas grill.
- Under no circumstances should you use your grill indoors.
- Always light the match before turning on the propane gas.
Outdoor activities:
- ALWAYS wear sunscreen to avoid serious and painful sunburns.
- Road, sand and playground surfaces can get extremely hot. When playing on these surfaces always wear shoes to avoid injuries and foot burns. Playground surfaces can reach temperatures of 180 degrees.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,353 beds. The Hospital has nearly 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits in a year, including more than 220,000 visits to its emergency departments — more than any other area hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the most comprehensive health care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area and is consistently ranked among the best academic medical institutions in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. For more information, visit www.nyp.org.
Linda Kamateh
lib9027@med.cornell.edu