Emergency Room Cases

Emergency Room Cases

"Every day, people come in and you just think, 'You gotta be kidding me'," says a Florida emergency room doctor. "I mean, what makes a guy think using a fish hook to clean out ear wax is a good idea?"

With that, some true statistics about why people go to the E.R. in the United States, as collected by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In 2006, an 18-year-old woman was "looking for a cell phone in a dumpster at [a] sorority. Had rubber lid of dumpster fall onto head when wind blew."

In 2004, a 24-year-old woman said she slipped in the shower -- when she stepped on a basketball.

In 2006, a 46-year-old woman reporter her "husband was wiring Internet when antlers fell off wall and hit patient on top of head."

In 2008, a 30-year-old man was "chasing a raccoon last night, forgot he had cable set up in yard." Wwhen he tripped he twisted left wrist.

A 37-year-old man was cutting branches with a circular saw, using a running wood chipper as a saw horse. When the man cut off several fingers with the saw, they fell into the wood chipper.

Also, CPSC statistics show that:
Men account for 56 percent of the E.R. visits.

Men suffer 80 percent of "pressure washer" injuries.

Men suffer 90 percent of injuries involving a "mobile home" plus "alcohol".

And unsurprisingly, 96 percent of "nail gun" injuries are suffered by men.