5 top tips to a Safe Diwali

1. Precaution, precaution, precaution! – Doctors cannot stress enough, the importance of precautionary measures during this festival. In the case of burns, going to a doctor is like crying over spilt milk. So ensure you take all necessary precautionary measures before lighting that firecracker. Make sure you have a safety kit on stand-by and this should definitely contain an antiseptic cream for burns. When you go shopping for your diwali wardrobe, avoid synthetics and loose flowing garments. These are easily flammable and you’ll be unnecessarily tempting bad luck

2. The water bucket measure – Keep a bucket of water on stand-by before you light that first cracker. In fact, you should fill this bucket and keep it in an easily accessible place even before you light your first diya or begin the puja

3. The power of running water- for minor burns, hold the affected area under running water as soon as possible.  Hold for at least a minute. This not only eases the pain but helps with long term scarring as well

4. Ditch the Rang Mashaals - The largest number of burn cases occur due to accidents caused by Rang mashaals. These deadly wands of fire are your doctor’s worst nightmare during this time. They need to be held to close to the body and burst very frequently. So try to keep the rang mashaals away from your diwali guest list!

5. Go to an expert – While there may be enough and more home-made remedies available for burns and fire cracker accidents during diwali, don’t take second chances. Rush to your doctor or emergency care as soon as you can. Before you start this evening’s festivities store your doctor’s name on speed dial