Enjoy Fireworks on the Fourth - From Afar

< July 02, 2008 > -- Backyard fireworks can produce their own thrills, but mainly for young boys who love to blow stuff up. And therein lies the danger.

"The natural predisposition for kids is to make the biggest bang in the most cleverly engineered ways possible," says Dr. Tim Stout, an ophthalmologist with Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland. "They try to set up big explosions, and those are the kinds that can cause serious injury."

June 1 through July 4 is recognized, appropriately enough, as Fireworks Safety Month. And the message from the experts is simple: Fireworks are only truly safe when someone else - preferably a trained professional miles from you - is setting them off.

Fireworks Injuries Can Cause Death

While most fireworks injuries do not result in death, fatality occurs often enough for the US government to add the statistic to other accidental deaths.

Fireworks caused an estimated 9,200 injuries that required treatment in US hospital emergency rooms in 2006, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Seven out of 10 of those injuries - approximately 6,400 - occurred during the one-month period surrounding the Fourth of July.

The damage is not limited to life and limb, either. In 2004, fireworks started an estimated 1,600 structure fires and 600 vehicle fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association, resulting in 20 injuries and $21 million in direct property damage.

Groups like Prevent Blindness America and the National Fire Protection Association take a hard line on fireworks, telling people there is no safe way to use them yourself.

"We believe the public should avoid the use of consumer fireworks and just enjoy public displays of fireworks performed by trained professionals," says Lorraine Carli, spokeswoman for the National Fire Protection Association.

Children Often Injured

The majority of fireworks-related injuries are caused by three of the most commonly used devices, Carli says. Small firecrackers, bottle rockets, and sparklers lead to more than 70 percent of fireworks injuries in the United States each year.

"There are a number of consumer fireworks that people think are relatively safe, when they are not, like sparklers," Carli says.

Sparklers burn at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. In 2006, sparklers caused 1,000 injuries. For children under 5, they accounted for the largest number of estimated injuries, about one-third of all injuries for that age group, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Hands are the part of the body most often injured by fireworks, followed by the eyes.

Approximately half of the estimated sparkler injuries involve hands and fingers, the same pattern as firecracker injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. About half of bottle rocket injuries involve the eyes, and almost 30 percent involve the head, face, or ear.

Better to Watch from Afar

If you are a parent insistent on buying your own fireworks to set off, Dr. Stout urges you to at least put on some safety glasses. "I've had eye patients come to me whose vision was spared because they were wearing safety glasses," he says.

He recalled one case in which two brothers were standing near each other when a firework went off in their faces. One brother lost an eye. "The other brother, even though he sustained more of the blast, the glasses protected his eyes," Dr. Stout says. "He was fine."

Or, better yet, just go see the show at your local park.

"Clearly, the safest fireworks to watch are the biggest and most beautiful," Dr. Stout says. "You watch them from a distance, and they're just gorgeous."

Always consult your physician for more information.

Fireworks Statistics

On Independence Day in a typical year, more US fires are reported than on any other day, and fireworks account for half of those fires, more than any other cause of fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

• In 2005, fireworks caused an estimated 1,800 total structure fires and 700 vehicle fires reported to fire departments.
• These 2,500 fires resulted in an estimated 60 civilian injuries and $39 million in direct property damage. There were no reported civilian deaths.
• 1,000 home structure fires were caused by fireworks in 2005.

The NFPA states that in 2006, US hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 9,200 people for fireworks related injuries.

• 49 percent of 2006 emergency room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities and 46 percent were to the head.
• 55 percent of the 2006 fireworks injuries were burns, while 30 percent were contusions and lacerations.
• One-third of the people injured by fireworks were under the age of 15.
• The risk of fireworks injury was two-and-a-half times as
  high for children ages 10-14 as for the general population.
• Sparklers, fountains, and novelties alone accounted for 28 percent of the emergency room fireworks injuries in 2006.
• Males accounted for 75 percent of fireworks injuries in 2006.

The NFPA says that the risk of fire death relative to time used shows fireworks as the riskiest consumer product.

• The risk that someone will die from fire when fireworks are being used is higher relative to exposure time than the risk of fire death when a cigarette is being smoked.
• The risks with fireworks are not limited to displays, public or private. Risks also exist wherever fireworks are manufactured, transported, or stored.
• "Safe and sane" fireworks are neither. Fireworks and sparklers are designed to explode or throw off showers of hot sparks. Temperatures may exceed 1200 degrees F.

Always consult your physician for more information.