Christmas Eve rhymes with cooking, rushing and sometimes one gesture too many. Every year, emergency departments welcome patients with hand injuries after a domestic accident. This December 24, 2025, on the Télématin set, Dr Gérald Kierzek detailed the most frequent situations and the good reflexes to adopt, without completely spoiling the evening.
Between the slipping knives, the recalcitrant oysters and the famous avocado pit, the hand becomes the first victim of New Year’s Eve. And when faced with a wound, everything does not depend on the intensity of the pain but on a very precise criterion.
Cut on the hand with bleeding, when to call the emergency immediately
For the emergency physician, it all starts with a simple distinction.
“There are two scenarios, either there is the scenario where it bleeds, it’s really a hemorrhage, well, what should we do? We’ll have to go to the emergency room or call 15.”
In this situation, there is no question of tinkering with an improvised bandage.
“We lie down, we press on it, we don’t apply a tourniquet, we just compress the bleeding wound.”
New Year’s Eve then comes to an abrupt end and the priority becomes medical.
Deep wound without bleeding, why we should not trivialize it
The same evening
The majority of accidents observed on Christmas Eve result in almost no bleeding. Gérald Kierzek clearly recalls this: “The vast majority of cases, there is no hemorrhage.”
In this specific case, the temptation is great to close the wound and continue the evening as if nothing had happened. However, the doctor specifies the actions to adopt, without overdoing it:
“You wash your hands with soap, you don’t necessarily use antiseptic, you put on a bandage.” The objective is to protect the wound without neglecting it, even if the pain seems moderate.
The next morning
If the wound is not bleeding, there is no need to go to the emergency room at night. On the other hand, the consultation should not be postponed. Gérald Kierzek insists on a very specific point: “The next morning, on an empty stomach, since midnight.” This implies not having eaten, drunk alcohol or smoked, in order to allow appropriate medical care if surgery proves necessary.
Hand emergency services
This consultation should ideally take place in an SOS hand service, specialized in hand trauma. The reason is simple and medical: “The hand is always treacherous, there are a lot of nerves, tendons and vessels.” Even a wound that appears benign can hide a more serious injury, particularly after an oyster accident or a stab wound related to an avocado pit, two common situations during New Year’s Eve.
To do this, nothing could be simpler: go to the website of the Federation of Hand Emergency Services, ready to go as soon as oysters are on the menu.