The Health Risks of Fireworks

TIME

According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, fireworks are involved in more than 10,000 injuries each year and 70% of those injuries occurred during the one month surrounding the July 4th holiday.

Transcript

00:00The concerning thing about fireworks is they are made for enjoyment and can be

00:06thought of as a toy, but they are small, concentrated gunpowder and can explode.

00:14And so there's a lot of danger that we don't associate with it because you do

00:18it for fun and to celebrate. About 10,000 people are injured with fireworks a year.

00:23The most concerning thing that we see is that about 4,000 of those are actually

00:29teenagers and children and it makes up a third of all the injuries that happen

00:35in children. The most common thing that we see are hand injuries and if they're

00:41the type of fireworks that can that explode you can actually get tissue

00:45damage, even possibly lose a finger. The other is you can imagine a sparkler that

00:51goes to about 2,000 degrees can cause very severe burns and these are the

00:58fireworks that we give to children and think are safe for children and there

01:02really is no sparkler that is safe. Considering how we watch fireworks and

01:07what we do with them, the hands, the face, and then if at all your clothing can

01:12catch on fire, so you want to wear tight clothing, not loose-fitting clothing

01:17around a fire source, that can then expand to a burn anywhere on the body.

01:22We know this is a part of us celebrating our Independence Day and many other

01:26holidays. So if you don't want to leave it to the professionals, which is what we

01:31highly recommend, then there are some safe ways to do it. You always want to

01:36check with your local fire and police department to see what are legal

01:40fireworks. You want to make sure you are not letting them off anywhere near dry

01:45leaves, homes, trees, so an open area. Keep near some water or a fire extinguisher.

01:52Never try to relight old fireworks. In general, just don't let children handle

01:59fireworks. I think the most important thing is to have the person who's doing

02:04the fireworks be the sober person for the evening so that they can really pay

02:11attention to the environment and keep everybody safe and having a good time.

02:15You also never want to point a firework at another individual or hold them in

02:21your hands when you're letting them off. That's where we see a lot of accidents

02:26happen. If there is a burn or an injury, it is important to first remove any

02:31clothing or anything that could be on fire. Just rinse the area with cool water,

02:36no ice, because ice can actually make the burn worse. Take the person to the local

02:42emergency department. It is important, especially with a tissue injury, that we

02:48have people look at it so it doesn't get infected. And that's our best way to be

02:52able to save any fingers or allow the burns to heal in a way that you wouldn't

02:59need surgery. I want everybody to have a really fun and safe summer, and there is

03:04a way to do that and still be able to enjoy fireworks and have fires outside.

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