WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – With temperatures on the rise, more people are spending time outside.

Many summertime activities unfortunately bring the risk of injury. To help prevent a trip to the ER this summer, Dr. Megan Evangelista, with Novant Health, spoke with WECT about safety tips to keep in mind while having fun in the sun.

“So the most common injuries that we see are water related injuries, unfortunately,” Dr. Evangelista said. “We see drownings that are fairly common, as well as sunburns and actually spinal cord injuries. So ways that we prevent those things, or we really recommend, with drowning that you have a one-to-one supervision of a child with a parent, and that you have proper flotation devices for your children. As far as cervical spine injuries, the recommendations for diving are actually within nine feet of water or greater. So we see a lot of folks who are diving at the beach or in their pools, and they’re not actually meeting the recommended diving depths.”

Out of the water, fireworks are a summertime staple that can cause severe injuries when not handled properly.

“So especially around the Fourth of July, you know, a lot of folks do set off fireworks and, you know, we recommend that all fireworks are set off outdoors,” Dr. Evangelista explained. “And you know, it might sound surprising to say but some people do light fireworks indoors and then bring them outside for breeze and that sort of thing. So we recommend that all fireworks be outdoors, and then for younger children instead of sparklers consider things like glow sticks or even confetti poppers for those kids. Because, you know, when the firework gets down to the end, it’s very easy for them to drop them or pass them to someone else, and that’s how a lot of people get burnt.”

The full interview can be found at the top of this story.

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