Guide to a Safe Spring in 3 Easy Steps

family eating outdoors

The Essential Guide to a Safe Spring in 1-2-3!

Have a fun and safe Spring 2021 by following these three safety tips. You’ve been hard at work and school waiting for a chance for fun in the sun, and now Spring is finally here!

Before you completely unleash all that pinned up energy, stop, think, and do yourself a favor and enjoy responsibly. It is possible to have fun without experiencing a medical emergency.

We are sharing this essential guide to a safe spring, in the hopes you will have a great time while staying clear away from harm.

Safe Spring Tip #1: Time in the Sun

We understand, you are tired of looking as if you’ve lived in a dungeon for the last five 5 years, but if you really want to enjoy your time in the sun remember:

  • Wear Sunscreen, Lots of It and Reapply Often: We bet you didn’t know that sunburns are at the top of the list for ER visits during spring break, but they are.
  • Drink Plenty of Water: It’s easy to become dehydrated, especially if you are enjoying outdoor activities. Dehydration is one of the most common reasons spring breakers pay us a visit; to avoid becoming dehydrated carry a PBA friendly water bottle, choose to drink water over sugary drinks or alcohol.
  • Protect Your Eyes: Wear sunglasses when out in the sun, if you wear contact lenses remember to remove them before going into the water (swimming pool, ocean, lake), as exposing contact lenses to water can lead to painful and sometimes blinding infections.
wire fence and field of flowers

Safe Spring Tip #2: Avoid Dangerous Alcohol Consumption

Letting loose and having a few drinks is a great way to de-stress, however, binge drinking will almost always guarantee you regrets and illness. According to the CDC alcohol-related motor vehicle, accidents kill one person every 31 minutes and seriously injure someone every 2 minutes

  • Don’t Let Your Drink Out of Your Sight: Spiked drinks are an unfortunate reality, the use of predatory drugs has been on the rise, therefore, don’t accept drinks from strangers, never leave your drink unattended and if you are feeling woozy, confused, have trouble standing up, or are slurring your speech, ask your friends to escort you back to your room.
  • Don’t Drink and Drive: Sure, you know this, but when you are in the midst of a party you can lose track of how much alcohol you’ve had, so, if you know you will be drinking, call a cab, or a ridesharing service such as Lift, or Uber.
  • Don’t Drink in a Hot Tub: Alcohol can dilate blood vessels and sometimes lower blood pressure to dangerous levels, the effects of drinking in a hot tub or heated pool are felt faster and stronger, and you are at a higher risk of passing out and drowning.
  • Avoid Binge Drinking: Binge drinking occurs when your alcohol blood levels reach 0.08 g/dl, this typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men in a span of 2 hours. Binge drinking can lead to irreversible health damage. One way to avoid your blood alcohol concentration from reaching 0.08 g/dl is by alternating your alcohol consumption with water, once you finish your drink, have a glass of water.
woman having a picnic

Know Where to Go in Case of an Emergency.

Safe Spring Tip #3: Wash Your Hands!

Altus Emergency Centers is committed to safeguarding the health of the community we serve.

There are many benefits to learning the correct way to wash your hands, including:

  • It reduces the spread of COVID-19
  • It reduces the number of diarrhea cases by 23-40%
  • It lowers diarrheal illnesses in patients with a weakened immune system by 58%
  • It reduces the spread of respiratory diseases like colds by up to 21%
  • It can help reduce schoolchildren’s absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness by as much as 57%
  • It can help protect one out of every three young children from getting sick with diarrhea, and almost one out of five young kids from contracting respiratory infections like pneumonia
  • It may help improve early child development

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends you wash your hands during these times:

  • Before, during, and after preparing food
  • Before and after eating food
  • Before and after tending a cut or wound
  • After using the toilet
  • After changing a baby’s diaper
  • After helping a child use the bathroom
  • After sneezing, blowing your nose, or coughing
  • After touching an animal, its food or waste
  • After handling pet food or pet treats
  • After touching garbage
Person washing their hands

As we are still officially in the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot stress how important it is to maintain your hands clean. If you do not have access to soap and water in a particular moment, please consider carrying around a hand sanitizer. It is also recommended to avoid touching your face while in public.

Spring is a lovely time to unwind and enjoy healthy outdoor fun but ensuring a safe spring is key to happy memories. However, accidents do happen and just because you are being responsible doesn’t mean everyone else is, for this reason, all our Altus Emergency Centers are always open 24/7 with little to no wait times.

Altus Emergency Room Baytown

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