Health Tip: Be Cautious at Christmas
Holiday decorations, including trees and lights, should be properly set up and maintained to keep your home merry and safe.
The National Safety Council offers these suggestions:
- Never burn evergreen branches or wreaths in an indoor fireplace, as they can cause large flames.
- Be careful where you place lit candles. Keep them away from trees and other decorations.
- If you have young children, avoid putting decorative plants around the home. Many plants, including mistletoe, holly berries, Jerusalem cherry and amaryllis, are dangerous if swallowed.
- Be careful when spraying decorations with artificial snow. Doing so makes them more flammable.
Health Tip: Using a Carbon Monoxide Detector
If you have a carbon monoxide detector in your home, you also need to be prepared with an action plan in case the alarm sounds.
The National Safety Council offers these suggestions if there may be a carbon monoxide leak in your home:
- Quickly confirm that the alarm is coming from a carbon monoxide detector -- not a smoke detector.
- Make sure that everyone in the house is feeling OK, without any symptoms. These may include fatigue, headache, weakness, confusion, disorientation, nausea or dizziness.
- Anyone experiencing symptoms should be immediately taken out of the house to get medical attention.
- If everyone is OK, open up the windows in your home and turn off any boiler, furnace, chimney or appliance that could release carbon monoxide.
- Have a technician inspect all potential sources of carbon monoxide -- including appliances and chimneys that burn fuel -- to make sure they are working properly.
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