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 4th-of-July 5-star-physician aberdeen Acetaminophen ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies amerigroup announcement Antibiotics anxiety Asthma autumn award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best-Of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards best-workplace bethlehem Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS blue-cross blue-shield capital-gazette careers children with disabilities Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm 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 Eating-Disorders employees Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask fall fall-sports First-Aid fitness Flu flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football for moms for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play General Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Good-Fats Halloween hand foot and mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg Head-Lice Health-History health-symptoms healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps heart-disease Heart-Health heat-exhaustion Heat-Safety hiking holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-cross horizon-blue-shield horizon-insurance Humidifier hydration inclusivity inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention insurance jetlag Kidney Kwanzaa lehigh-valley life-support-class lyme maryland meal-prep Meatless-Monday mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health Mental-Health millennial montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Movember new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year New-Year's northern-va northern-virginia nova nurtition Nutrition Obesity occupational health osteoporosis outdoors PALS parent tips parenting parenting-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Pregnancy Probiotics pumpkin recipe recipes registration reicpes Resolutions richmond Running safety safety-tips Seasonal-Affective-Disorder services shin-splings sick kid Sickness-Prevention 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 Sun-Safety sunscreen Swimmer's-ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick ticks tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips unitedhealthcare urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Video Vitamin-D volunteering walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Weight-Lifting wellness Winter yard-work Yearly-Physical