You know how people say that most accidents happen in the home? I am here to suggest that this is a very accurate statement. I hope you can relate to some of the situations that I want to relive and mention in this article. Bear in mind that none of these were life-altering, although I guess they could have been if I hadn’t been lucky or dodged the proverbial bullet.
Let us start with some things that happened to me over the years. All of these took place in my home. Home sweet home. One Saturday Kathy and the kids all went shopping. They were going to be gone for some time. I was the only one left at home. Saturday at that time was working in the yard day. I would mow, edge and trim. Blow all the stuff into piles and pick them up and put them in the Green Bin for trash pick up. I decided since I had extra time on my hands with everyone went to get my 8-foot ladder and trim our main yard tree in the front yard. Seemed innocent enough for me. I had done this before so no problem. I situated the ladder next to the tree and climbed up to trim some of the branches. You know on the ladders there is a warning that says don’t step on certain steps because it isn’t safe. Well, I decided that this warning was for other people. I balanced myself on the step next to the top of the ladder and reached to trim some branches. The ladder started to fall. I was helpless to stop it from coming down with me on it. I did have some visions of my life passing before me but what actually happened was that the ladder fell and I fell and landed and rolled and actually stood up. I had averted some real bad outcomes and the first thought I had was, did anyone see me fall? I quickly looked around the neighborhood and no one was anywhere to be seen. I had not been caught doing such a stupid thing. I breathed a sigh of relief. Stopped trimming and shared the incident with my wife and kids after they returned. I promised not to do that again.
The next incident happened one day when I was in the garage. We were having a bit of a rodent problem so I decided to check in the garage for places where they might be getting into the house. There were some areas near the water heater that looked like a rodent could squeeze in so I went to the store and bought a couple of aerosol cans of foam. What you do is shake the can vigorously then spray the foam into whatever area you want to fill and the foam gets hard and no rodent or anything else can get through the crack. The area around the water heater is pretty tight. I started to spray the foam and everything was going great. I think what happened was that there was a build-up of the chemicals in the air and it got too close to the fire that was lit under the water heater and there was a bit of an explosion. This foam crap got all over me, my shirt and pants, and thank god was limited to a relatively small area. I forgot about the fire in the water heater and the only bad thing that happened was I ruined a perfectly good flannel from LL Bean and some nice jeans. I cleaned up as best I could…never shared my stupidity with Kathy and the fact that I could have started the house on fire or been injured in a big explosion. Again I dodged a bullet and made some excuse for ruining my clothes. I also tried to clean up the foam that was now all over the walls around the water heater. I never spoke of this near tragedy again.
The next incident happened at my daughter Marti’s house. We were in the backyard having a family bar b que. I went inside to get something. As I was entering the door into the house which was a few steps up from ground level I stubbed my toe on the bottom step and my momentum caused me to fall and jam my finger on the piece of wood on the bottom of the doorway. I was sure I had broken something. My ring finger swelled up like a balloon and it was obvious that I needed to go to the emergency room. They took me there almost immediately. The doctor looked at the ring finger and said we have to cut the ring off. I learned something that day. Because this kind of thing happens pretty frequently they actually have a kit to cut rings off without doing any harm to your finger. The doctor used the kit and the tool inside and cut the ring off. Amazing. That finger still hurts when the weather turns cold. It was again…me not paying attention and putting myself in harm’s way.
I could go on and on but basically, I want to talk about a broader issue. This I am sure you can relate to and involves tripping or stubbing your toe and falling. This has happened to me many times over the years. I will find myself falling and hoping that nothing bad happens. When it happens and I am going into the garage I have been able to catch myself before taking a header. If it is in the house..just hope that you don’t hit your head, or break anything. I am 76 years old and I have yet to have a broken bone. Somehow I have avoided that happening. Having said that I have had more than my share of jammed fingers, wrists, and ankles (not broken) just hurt and stubbed toes. Those really hurt.
Recently I have been staying at my daughter’s house. She purchased a fifth wheel for me to live in. This thing is amazing and totally self-contained. Having said that it is a dangerous place for me. With all of the sharp corners on cabinets and doors and a million other things I seem to catch my arms, legs, feet, hands, and fingers on this stuff and cut myself and bleed. It has happened enough that I went to the store and bought some Neosporin and a good size box of band-aids to handle these little mishaps. I am getting much better and it doesn’t look like I am going to need to buy any more of these items any time soon. I want to spend a little more time on the stubbed toes. I rarely go barefoot. Not because I might hurt my feet it is just better for me to wear shoes. Obviously when I am in bed and need to get up for something I am barefoot. Then I am vulnerable to stepping on something hard or sharp and immovable. I also have stepped on my dog’s toys…Any one of those things can really spoil your night. Is there anything that hurts more than stubbing your toe? I don’t know about you but I have been convinced on more than one occasion that I finally broke a toe. As it turns out, they don’t really do anything for a broken toe. They stabilize it and it is supposed to get better over time. Most of my stubbings just caused me a lot of pain…nothing more and I never had to miss work or go to the emergency room with a stubbed toe.
Other than falling from an 8-foot ladder in the front yard, almost burning the house down, and having to get my wedding ring cut off…the rest of my accidents have been just scary. I keep saying that I need to slow down…look before you step…take care when you are moving around. I am going to recommend all of the above. I was pretty lucky…you may not be. All the best and I hope your accidents are relatively uneventful like most of mine.
As I think about it OSHA has done a lot of research on accidents. They come up with gear that you can wear to help you or avoid the cuts and worse that can happen when accidents happen. For example, gloves to wear when you are cutting things with a knife. These gloves have steel in them to keep you from cutting your fingers. You could wear a helmet at home so you wouldn’t get any head trauma when you trip and fall. You could wear elbow guards, and special fire retardant gear when using aerosol cans around water heaters. Then there are the safety goggles. These are always recommended when you are using almost any power equipment. Clearly, there are things that you can do to help avoid the results of accidents. I am willing to admit that accidents will happen. You cannot live your life in a bubble so it comes down to being more careful. I don’t suggest wearing helmets around the house or fireproof clothing or safety goggles all the time. Keep your health insurance premiums current and slow down and if there is a way to avoid making dumb decisions I recommend that. I am sure you will be ok but there are crutches and boots if you fall victim to these unexpected accidents.
