Thanksgiving burn safety tips

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires with more than three times the daily average for such incidents.” Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires and fire deaths. This means that kitchen safety and fire prevention are essential.

Dr. Leigh J. Spera, Medical Director of the Burn Program at Riley Children’s Health, shares a few burn prevention tips to keep your family safe this Thanksgiving.

• Never leave cooking unattended. An adult should stay in the kitchen while food is cooking. Use a timer to remind yourself that the stove or oven is on and to check your turkey and other foods on your Thanksgiving menu. When your meal is ready, check the kitchen to make sure all burners and other appliances are turned off before sitting down to eat.
• Establish a Kid Free Zone. “The kitchen can quickly become a very busy place during meal preparation and holiday gatherings. While it’s great to involve the entire family, I recommend establishing a three feet “kid free zone” (at minimum) around all hot cooking surfaces, oven doors, and resting hot food containers,” says Dr. Spera.
• Keep kids away from hot surfaces. Make sure hot food and beverages are pushed back on counter tops and tables. Turn pot or pan handles toward the back of the stove so that they are out of reach from kids. “Since we see many kids for scald injuries (burns from hot water or steam), these precautions are especially important to keep your kids safe.”
• Be cautious with turkey fryers. If frying a turkey this year, do so at a safe distance from your house and keep kids and pets away from outdoor cooking.
• For more cooking safety tips and Thanksgiving fire safety, visit redcross.org or nfpa.org.

Even with the best precautions, injuries can still happen. If your child gets a burn from a hot liquid or a contact burn from touching a hot surface, know that Riley Hospital offers Indiana’s only verified burn center dedicated to caring for children. Learn more about our recent re-verification by the American Burn Association.