Focus on Pediatrics: Just say no: To fireworks?
Focus on Pediatrics: Just say no: To fireworks?
There is no safe way for home fireworks displays
Although "Just say no" is part of an anti-drug campaign, Betsy Vandie, media relations director for Prevent Blindness America in Schaumburg, IL, would like more parents to adopt that same response when their children ask for fireworks.
That’s because there is no safe way for nonprofessionals to use fireworks, she says. Data from the United States Eye Injury Registry shows that bystanders are more often injured by fireworks than those who are setting them off; 44% of those injured each year are children ages 19 and younger. The greatest number of eye injuries is associated with rockets.
Handheld sparklers are the second-highest cause of fireworks injuries. "You see children playing with sparklers, chasing each other around the yard, and they could blind each other that way. It is a lack of information on the part of people. They don’t realize how dangerous sparklers are," says Vandie. According to Prevent Blindness America, sparklers can heat up to 1,800°F, which is hot enough to melt gold.
To get the word out, Prevent Blindness America has made July Fireworks Safety Month with an emphasis on education from July 1 through July 4. Most Americans associate fireworks with celebrating and don’t understand the danger, she says. Therefore, this is a time to increase awareness.
According to statistics gathered from the U.S. Product Safety Commission, there were 11,000 injuries treated in hospital emergency departments in the year 2000. The data do not take into account all the injuries that were self-treated or treated by private physicians, says Vandie.
Anyone who sustains an eye injury needs to seek medical help. "It may seem like an invisible injury to the layman but the cornea could be damaged," she explains. Following are eight action steps suggested by Prevent Blindness America that parents could follow when their child sustains an eye injury from fireworks:
• Seek immediate medical attention, even if the injury seems minor. Seemingly mildly damaged areas can worsen and end in serious vision loss, even blindness, which might not have happened if treatment had occurred right away.
• Stay calm. Do not panic; keep the child as calm as possible.
• Do not let the child rub the eye. If any eye tissue is torn, rubbing might push out the eye’s contents and cause more damage. Rubbing the eye is an automatic response to pain so take the child’s hand from his or her face.
• Do not rinse the eye, for this can be more damaging than rubbing.
• Shield the eye from pressure. Tape or secure the bottom of a foam cup, milk carton, or similar shield against the bones surrounding the eye: brow, cheek, and bridge of the nose.
• Avoid giving aspirin or ibuprofen (or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to try to reduce the pain. They thin the blood and might increase bleeding. Acetaminophen is the best over-the-counter drug to give the child, yet nonprescription painkillers won’t be of much help. It is best to go straight to the emergency department rather than take the time to obtain painkillers.
• Do not apply ointment or any medication to the injured area because it is probably not sterile and ointments can make the eye area slippery. Ointments applied to the eye area could slow the physician’s examination at a time when every second counts.
• Above all, do not let your child play with fireworks and do not use them yourself. Keep family members away from anyone using fireworks.
"People should be aware that there are dangers even at a professional display, but of course that is less risky than setting fireworks off on their own," says Vandie.
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