South Texas Health System shares tips on holiday safety

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The holidays are here and South Texas Health System is sharing tips to ensure a safe and fun season for all families.

Michael Menowsky, an Emergency and Critical Care Physician at STHS says the hospital sees an increase in patients during Thanksgiving.

While no one wants to get burned while preparing the perfect holiday meal, accidents can occur.

"We get tons of trauma like that. Fortunately, it's usually first and second degree burns, like scald injuries from a pot of water that burns over," Menowsky said.

Menowsky suggests anyone who experiences a minor wound or burn accident at home to do the following:

If the minor wound or burn does not heal within two days, Menowsky suggests to visit the emergency room for evaluation.

Anyone with major wounds or burns is urged to visit a local emergency room immediately.

"We're here for anybody that has concerns beyond that. They can come in to the emergency department. We're happy to evaluate the burn," Menowsky said. "I'd rather come in and see you and tell you to go home that everything is OK, rather than that burn become potentially infected."

Also while preparing a holiday meal, the one thing no one wants to bring to the table is food poisoning.

Health officials will usually see food poisoning cases a day or two after a holiday, when families are reheating their meals.

"The big issue is food storage after Thanksgiving, making sure that you put everything in the refrigerator, sealed containers, and in reheating it properly," Menowsky said.

Outbreaks of different types of food poisoning like salmonella, E. coli and listeria tend to rise and can last from two to four days.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated one in six Americans are likely to get sick from food poisoning during the holidays.

Symptoms of food poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and/or signs of dehydration.

Menowsky says there are several ways to identify spoiled food to prevent getting ill.

"Food storage is the thing. I think it's going to save people from getting food poisoning symptoms," Menowsky continued.

Anyone with food poisoning is urged to visit a local hospital's emergency department or a primary doctor.

"If they have more than a couple of episodes of vomiting, they should probably come in," Menowsky continued. "We can treat them, make sure all their electrolytes are normal, give them medication for nausea and vomiting, make sure they can hold down fluid and send them home, if that's appropriate."