LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As people get ready to enjoy the boom of the Fourth of July fireworks, the holiday also brings a boom of patients to hospital emergency rooms.
“Burns, lacerations, falls.”
Those are just some of the injuries Dr. Cole Sondrup sees around the Fourth of July holiday. He’s seen many patients in his emergency room at Southern Hills Hospital.
“Over the holidays, injuries happen to everyone," he said. "Injuries have no respecters of age or health status.”
Many injuries stemming from people shooting off fireworks or burns from barbecues. He says his staff have seen a lot of holiday-related calls in the past.
“The day after is always one of the busiest days of the year,” he said.
The Pew Research Center shows an average of 45,000 Americans visit hospital ERs for Fourth of July related injuries. That’s more than any other time in the year.
Dr. Sondrup says there’s a key factor why.
“On the Fourth of July when people are overindulging in food and alcohol, a lot of those things get much worse and people end up in the emergency department the next day,” he said.
His main advice for people is simple: to drink responsibly, or don’t at all.
“We all enjoy the holiday, but overindulgence in alcohol will make everything worse if you come into the emergency department,” he said.
Dr. Sondrup also wants to remind people to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration from the triple digit temperatures and alcohol.
