Christmas tree ornaments could endanger your child
Your Christmas tree ornaments could harm your child, according to a study from Children’s Hospital Boston’s Division of Emergency Medicine, which found that holiday decorations, particularly glass ornaments, are one more safety hazard parents should consider during the season. A review of records from its Emergency Department revealed an average of five ornament-related injuries per year, and more than half of the injuries involved a child eating fragments of these ornaments, including batteries and pieces of glass.
“Parents need to be vigilant during the holiday season, even though it’s also a busy time of year,” says co-author Lois Lee, MD, MPH, of Children’s Division of Emergency Medicine, who also directs the hospital’s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program. “If you know that your child has a tendency to put things in his or her mouth, you should be especially careful.”
Out of a total of 76 cases treated at the hospital, 56% involved ingestion or taking fragments of ornaments or light bulbs into the mouth (more than a quarter of these injuries resulted in bleeding of the mouth or gastrointestinal tract). Lacerations were seen in 27% of cases, and more than two-thirds required surgical repair. Three patients were examined for potential toxin exposure, and two experienced minor electrocution. Only one case of ingestion involved an ornament not made of glass.
Ornament-related injuries often lead to otherwise avoidable medical procedures. Facial lacerations have required stitches. In addition, accidental ingestions have required testing with X-rays and CT scans, and there is particular concern of radiation exposure from CT scans in children. Such hospital visits are also an unwelcome inconvenience during the holiday festivities, Lee says.
“If there are toddlers in the house, keep them away from the Christmas tree, or at least keep the ornaments off the lower branches where the children can reach them,” Lee says. Furthermore, parents may want to gate off the Christmas tree, and stabilize the tree to make sure it does not fall on anyone.
The study was published in the December 2009 issue of Pediatric Emergency Care.