ER doctor has Santa-like 'naughty' list

A U.S. trauma surgeon says he is asked so frequently what types of injuries he treats in a hospital emergency room he has compiled a Santa-like "naughty" list. "The mild weather has delayed the traditional snow blower and snow shoveling injuries, but the Christmas and New Year holidays still bring in falls from ladders, electrical outlet zaps and alcohol-fueled everything," said Dr. Thomas Esposito, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago. "We trauma surgeon 'mixologists' have our list of time-tested recipes for disaster that we see year in and year out. Santa has his naughty list and so do I." Esposito said the list of bad mixes included alcohol and most anything; bar brawls and bottles; guns and gatherings; cars and cellphones; candles and cats; little fingers and electrical sockets; ladders and lights; and TVs and tots. He also recommends against mixing roofs and ice; flames and fleece; drinking and decorating; pets and poisons; space heaters and enclosed spaces; kids and light cords; shovels and out-of shape shovelers; heat and bare feet; reefer and roofs; and drivers and distractions. "Little kids climb on improperly mounted flat screens and big-screen TVs or the TV stand and get seriously hurt or die when the TV topples over onto them," Esposito said. "There is always a trail of patients who drink and fall off the roof while hanging lights or even shoveling snow."