The 4th of July means patriotism, cookouts and fireworks. You can handle patriotism with the best of them, but a few precautions will help keep you safe around the grill and fireworks.

Family cookouts are fun but they can also be dangerous. Thousands of people are treated for grill related injuries every year. Remember these safety precautions:
  • Keep children and pets away. Establish a 3-foot “Kid Free Zone” around your grill.
  • Use your grill outdoors only. Keep it away from your home, deck furniture and overhanging branches that might catch fire.
  • Remove grease or fat from the grill tray so it does not flame up.
  • Never leave the grill unattended.
  • Grilling and drinking alcohol don’t mix.
The 4th of July also means fireworks. But sparklers and other fireworks can cause serious injuries. Here are 5 tips for fireworks safety:
  • Sparklers cause most fireworks injuries. They burn at high temperatures and can cause severe burns. Do not let small children handle sparklers and dispose of burned out sparklers in a bucket of water.
  • Stay away from ground based “sparkler” devices. If one does not go off as expected, douse the device with water before approaching.
  • Distance is important at public fireworks displays. Do not get too close to the launch site in case something goes wrong.
  • Do not pick up fireworks debris at these displays.
  • Just like drinking and driving, fireworks and alcohol do not mix.
While we never plan for injuries, for your convenience, all Patient First neighborhood medical centers are open every day including holidays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Related Articles

We would love to learn what would be helpful on this page for you.

Articles by tag

2020 2021-top-workplace 4th-of-July 5-star-physician ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies announcement Antibiotics anxiety Aspen Hill coming soon Asthma autumn award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best of Best urgent care Best urgent care VA beach best-for-families Bestof best-of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards bestofcountytimes Best-of-Jewish-times-winner best-urgent-care Best-urgent-Care-Bowie-Blade-News best-workplace bethlehem Biking Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS Blueberries Camping capital-gazette careers CDC Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm Cold cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion coronavirus covid-19 COVID-19-Test CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health Depression Dermatitis diabetes Drowning Drug Screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorder employees employment Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask fall fall-sports Farmer's-Market First-Aid Fitness Flu Flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football For Parents For Women for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play Gastrointestinal General Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Goals Halloween hand-foot-and-mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg headache Head-Lice Health Healthcare Health-History health-symptoms Healthy Living healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps Heart Heart-Disease heart-health Heat Heat-Exhaustion Heat-Safety hiking holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-shield Humidifier hydration Illness Inclusivity Inclusivity & Accessibility inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention Insect-Stings Insurance jetlag jobs Kidney Kwanzaa Laughter lehigh-valley life-support-class Lightning maryland Mask meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma Memory Retention memory-retention Men's-Health mental-health Migrane millennial Millennials montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Mood Improvement Movember MRSA new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year New-Year's northern-va northern-virginia nova Nutrition Obesity Occupational Health ocean-safety osteoporosis outdoors Paddle-Sports PALS parenting Parenting-Tips parent-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Power-Outage Pregnancy Probiotics Productivity Protein pumpkin recipe recipes registration resolutions richmond River Running safety Safety Tips safety-tips Seasonal-Affective-Disorder shin-splings sickness-prevention simply-the-best skin sleep Smoke-Detector Smoking Snow soccer sore-throat south-jersey sports Sports-Physicals spotsylvania Spring spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day stafford Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment Stroke summer summer-sports Sunburn Sunglasses Sun-Safety Sunscreen Swimmer's-ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips Travel-Vaccines urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Video Vitamin-D volunteering Walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Water-Sports Weight-Lifting Wellness Winter Workouts Yard-Work Yearly-Physical