Dr. Keay photo courtesy Providence Regional Medical Center
The good news…the numbers are down from last year. The bad news…the numbers are still too high.
The report was authored by Dr. C. Ryan Keay who is the Emergency Department Medical Director.
2016 brought in a cool and windy July 4th Celebration. This may have contributed to lower numbers of reported fireworks injuries than 2015, although we are still in the thick of the official reporting period! To date, 17 fireworks injuries were seen and treated in the Emergency Department, with almost 60% of those patients being well enough to discharge home. The majority of patients (82%) were male and originated in Marysville or Tulalip. Of the 6 pediatric patients seen, half were innocent bystanders and the other half were either holding or leaning over fireworks at the time of injury.
Fireworks seem like harmless fun but the reality is they can be very dangerous. Burns are most common followed by, this year, soft tissue injuries and eye injuries. Remember that a sparkler, which is often given to even young children to celebrate, burns at a temperature of > 1,000 degrees; that is hot enough to melt some metals. It’s always safest to leave the fireworks to the professionals and visit a public display. That’s also a great way to celebrate with your neighbors and community!
We will still see a few more injuries over the next week as folks use up their leftover fireworks, and the reporting period continues until July 11th.
2015 Injuries: 24
2016 Injuries: 17
Age Ranges: 6 pediatric and 11 adult
Gender: 3 Female/14 male
Types of injuries seen this year: Majority of injuries were burns, followed by soft tissue avulsions/lacerations and eye injuries.
# Transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle: 4 patients were transferred to HMC (23.5%)
July 5, 2016
Everett