By Ma. Teresa Montemayor/PNA
MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday reported a total of 40 fireworks-related injuries (FWRIs) since it started its nationwide surveillance last week.
The FWRIs were recorded by 60 sentinel hospitals. There were eight additional FWRIs recorded from 6 a.m. on Thursday until 5:59 a.m. on Friday. Three cases were from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) and one case each from Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
They involved males ages two and 69 years and played with fireworks banned by the government.
All of the eight cases were reported on time. They suffered from burns without amputation, were given antibiotics, and sent home after treatment.
The DOH said the current FWRI statistics is 49 percent lower than in the same period last year, and 74 percent lower than the five-year average.
Around 98 percent or 38 cases of the FWRIs were wounds or injuries due to fireworks use, while five percent or two cases were due to fireworks ingestion.
Thirteen out of the 38 cases suffered from eye injuries, while only four suffered from blast with amputation. The remaining 21 cases suffered from burns without need for amputation.
The six-year-old boy in Tondo, Manila who ingested on Tuesday the contents of a “pili” firecracker has been discharged from the Philippine General Hospital by the University of the Philippines – National Poison Management and Control Center.
Under Executive Order No. 28, the use of firecrackers shall be confined to a community fireworks’ display to minimize the risk of injuries and casualties.
The DOH also warned the public against illegal fireworks, such as watusi, piccolo, atomic triangle, large Judas belt, large bawang, pillbox, boga, Goodbye Philippines, Bin Laden, mother rockets, lolo thunder, coke-in-can, kwitom, atomic bomb, five star, pla-pla, giant whistle bomb, kabasi, and other unlabeled and imported firecrackers.
Among the banned fireworks, Boga caused the highest number of injuries, followed by Kwitis, Piccolo, Triangle, Baby Rocket, and Luces.
