There are countless ways to get hurt this weekend — fireworks, traveling, boating, alcohol. It can be a deadly combination.

Though most of us grew up shooting fireworks as a child, most safety experts recommend keeping children away from the explosions. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 230 people go to the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the month around the Fourth of July.

Many of those patients are children. Most of the injuries are burns — hands and fingers are affected the most. Below are a few fireworks safety tips. Most are simply common sense.
• Never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks.
• Avoid buying fireworks that are packaged in brown paper because this is often a sign that the fireworks were made for professional displays and that they could pose a danger to consumers.
• Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities. Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees — hot enough to melt some metals.
• Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks.
• Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully.
• Never point or throw fireworks at another person.

Unfortunately, fireworks aren’t the only way to get hurt during the Fourth holiday. The holiday was named the most dangerous of the year by Forbes magazine, mainly due to deaths involving drunken drivers.

Law enforcement officials will be out in force during the holiday weekend, which officially begins Friday evening. The hope is that an increased presence of law enforcement will get dangerous drivers off the road.

But again, a little common sense is all you need. If you drink, don’t get behind the wheel. It’s that simple. Drunken driving endangers everyone on the road, not just the individual who has been drinking.

Buzzed driving is just as dangerous. Driving after having just one drink makes you more likely to crash, studies have found.

So if you plan on drinking this weekend, make sure you have a plan to get home. That plan should include a designated driver.