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"THE HEART OF THE MATTER"
a special program of the National Emergency Medicine Association (NEMA)

Week: 577.2

Guest: Ron Hazelton, The House Doctor, Home & Garden TV

Topic: Using power tools safely

Host/ Producer: Steve Girard

NEMA: Power tool safety...coming up...

SPOT: NEMA...the National Emergency Medicine Association...fights our worst health enemies - heart disease, stroke, trauma. Call 800-332-6362.

NEMA: The circular saw is a popular power tool for outdoor projects...Ron Hazelton, home improvement editor at ABC's Good Morning America, says one step in using them safely is to make sure the material you're cutting is supported, so it doesn't bind while your cutting it...

HAZELTON: ...the saw tends to, what they call, kick back and it literally flies back towards you and even though most circular saws that are sold today have got safety guards on them this can happen so fast that that blade can injure you before that safety guard has a chance to snap into position.

NEMA: And Ron says keeping your saw blade sharp is actually a safety step...

HAZELTON: Well you can definitely injure yourself more easily with a dull saw blade because it tends to bind and kick back and you find yourself pressing with excessive pressure too. So make sure the blade is sharp.

NEMA: And keep the sole plate, the flat metal piece that sits on what you're cutting, clean and waxed...so it glides better. One more tip from Ron Hazelton of Good Morning America: If you don't have a 12 gauge extension cord and a ground fault circuit interrupter on the outside outlet...get them. I'm Steve Girard at The Heart of the Matter.