It's time for those yearly reminders about hunting safety, and this time, the message comes from someone who has seen his fair share of hunting incidents, specifically injuries from falling out of tree stands.
Dr. Gregory Thomas says he has noticed a trend when it comes to such injuries.
"Every year we've been seeing more and more- hunters who've been doing it for years, but who are just not paying attention and falling from their tree stands. They're taking their safety for granted," said Dr. Thomas, an orthopaedic traumatologist at Geisinger CMC in Scranton.
He brought a harness to show us that attaches to a tree stand. On the back of the box are pictures of the lives saved by wearing the harness. Dr. Thomas says a tree stand fall can injure your head, chest, heart and lungs, abdomen, and liver. More seriously, he points out, would be a pelvic break, which severely affects mobility and, in some cases, requires surgery.
"That could also cause internal bleeding, which is really dangerous for the patient," Dr. Thomas explains. He went on to say that once a patient is injured in the woods, other medical conditions become real risks, including hypothermia and dehydration.