With the amount of outside activity that happens during the warmer months while kids are out of school, it’s no surprise that emergency room visits increase in the summertime. This month, we’re discussing a few common outdoor mishaps and how to prevent and protect yourself and your children from them.

Summer Safety

Five common outdoor health risks include:

1. The Sun

We often forget how powerful the sun is, especially when we’re beating the heat in the water. Sunburns are more than just a painful annoyance, and studies show that having five or more sunburns doubles your risk for melanoma.

Prevent and protect: Make sure you’re not only wearing sunscreen every day but that it’s the right SPF for your skin tone. Check out Banana Boat’s SPF chart here. Along with sunscreen, hats and sunglasses can give you added protection, as well as taking breaks in the shade every 30 minutes to an hour while outside.

2. Yard work

Many people take pride in keeping their landscape manicured, and it can be therapeutic to plant new additions to your garden or fire up the lawnmower after a long winter. That’s why yardwork is a common cause of accidental outdoor injuries in the warmer months.

Prevent and protect: While working in the yard, it’s best to wear clothing that covers your skin, closed-toed shoes, glasses, and gloves to protect yourself from cuts, burns, and foreign objects.

3. Sports

Summertime just wouldn’t be the same without the physical activity outside. From pick-up games, front yard flag football, and sand volleyball, to skateboarding and water polo, outdoor sports always seem more fun when school is out. But along with being physically active, comes the risk of injuries.  

Prevent and protect: Always wear proper shoes to give your body the support it needs when playing outside. Never go rollerblading or bicycling without a helmet, and keep an ace bandage or ice pack in your gym bag to help with swelling in case an injury does occur.  

4. Eye injuries

Flying objects, UV rays, chlorine, allergens, and irritants can all be encountered outside and can damage your eyes. Whether minor or major, any type of changes to our vision and eye health is scary.

Prevent and protect: Invest in a good pair of goggles, sunglasses, or other protective eyewear to wear while outdoors to avoid eye injuries. Keep eyedrops handy to flush them out if necessary. 

5. Water-related accidents

Concussions and taking in too much water—or in severe cases, drowning—are the most common water-related reasons for ER visits. In most cases, these types of accidents can be avoided by taking precautions and being aware of your surroundings.

Prevent and protect: Always wear a lifejacket in a large body of water, even if you’re a strong swimmer. Keep children out of the deep-end, and use floats or floaties while playing in the pool. Always check the depth of the water before jumping in, and never dive into water unless you are 100% sure it’s at least eight feet deep.

Come See Us

No matter what the injury, ailment, or medical emergency you face, we’re here for you—not only in the summertime but 24/7, 365 days a year. Our state-of-the-art facility offers little to no wait time, to give our patients the fast and efficient premier care they need to be treated and get on with their day.

Nutex Health, Inc supports you and your family’s health. You can depend on The Colony ER Hospital, or any of our concierge-level medical facilities to deliver the emergency care you deserve.


Disclaimer: As a service to our readers, The Colony ER Hospital and Nutex Health state no content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinicians.

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