It’s like a Halloween title, but on the wrong holiday! No one wants to end up in the ER on a holiday, especially one that would mean missing out on turkey dinner! By being prepared for the unexpected, you can prevent a disaster from impeding upon your favorite dinner of the year. So here are some tips to keep you and yours safe and healthy this Thanksgiving:

• Brush up on your Heimlich maneuver skills. Choking at dinner is more common then you think, not only endangering children and the elderly, but anyone who’s decided to enjoy wine with dinner may have heightened their chances for less careful chewing.
• Refresh your First Aid kit. Unfortunately the turkey isn’t always the only one getting cut during dinner prep and at the dinner table. And all that intensive time around the oven often leaves at least one small burn on a finger that went rogue.
• Check the date on your fire extinguisher and plan to keep at least one person in the kitchen at all times. Forgetting about the apple pie in the oven may cause the kids to run screaming as the fire detectors wail, but it might be the least of your Thanksgiving dinner disasters. A grease fire can wreak havoc quickly spreading throughout your kitchen, and the best way to prevent it from happening is to not leave the kitchen. Try to keep distractions at a minimum so you can focus on what’s happening in the kitchen. For those who decide to play it risky this year by deep frying the turkey, inadvertently they may end up deep frying their house. Make sure you have the proper extinguisher for what you are possibly up against. Class K is the best to have in a kitchen since it works on electrical and liquid fires.
• Follow the proper steps to food handling. Food poisoning can really be a downer on a Thanksgiving dinner, using the minivan to shuttle the entire family to the ER would be a night not soon forgotten. Be on the lookout for signs of food poisoning (especially if guests are bringing dishes), abdominal pain, nausea and fever. If anyone shows symptoms of chest pains, signs of shock or severe dehydration, call 911 immediately.

We hope that foresight will help you and yours have a happy, healthy Thanksgiving this year.

If you do unfortunately find yourself in the ER this year, we hope that you have the coverage you need. Compare and buy short term and full family and individual health insurance at our online store, click here.