Calls for safety on Bonfire Night as injuries rise in Wales

With Guy Fawkes Night taking place this week, a woman from West Wales has urged members of the public to stay safe after an incident were she received a severe burn injury to her face, neck and upper limbs from a garden bonfire...
Wales’ top medical adviser has urged people to keep safe and be sensible to avoid injuries at bonfire night events, with Guy Fawkes Night this Wednesday (November 5)
Ahead of a week which can see a high incidence of burns injuries present at Emergency Departments across Wales, Chief Medical Officer, Professor Isabel Oliver, said:“Fireworks can cause severe injury, including burns and breathing difficulties particularly for people with asthma and respiratory conditions.
“They should only be handled by adults in a carefully supervised environment and the safest place to enjoy them is at an organised public display. Please stand well back and never return to a lit firework.
“If you build a bonfire, it should be in a safe location with any necessary permissions.
“The fire should be an appropriate size and located well away from people, trees and properties taking into account wind direction.
“Please take care to stay safe.”
The Welsh ambulance service received more than 1,100 emergency 999 calls and a further 1,700 non-emergency calls to NHS 111 Wales on Bonfire Night last year.
Since 2019, the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery at Morriston Hospital, one of Europe’s largest and busiest burns services, has seen more than 60 firework-related injuries.
The Centre in Swansea provides specialist burns care for around 1,000 people a year, roughly half of whom are children.
Over the past year a £7.7m upgrade to this centre of excellence has created three new burns cubicles and two general intensive care cubicles in Morriston’s main intensive care unit and an existing theatre has been converted to help treat more burns patients.
One of the patients to benefit from this additional investment is Sian Morgan, from Llanelli.
Sian received a severe burn injury to her face, neck and upper limbs, covering 10% of her body, from a garden bonfire earlier this year.
She spent 10 days in the new ICU facility undergoing skin grafting. She then spent time rehabilitating in Tempest ward and is now having ongoing scar management as an out-patient at the Burns Centre.
Talking about her experience, Sian said:“The care I received throughout was excellent, from the moment the ambulance arrived up until I was discharged.
“I could not have asked for a better experience in the circumstances. It really was gold standard.
“The facilities were first class as well. Having a family room there was particularly helpful as my husband and family were back and forth while I was staying there. I couldn’t fault anything.”