Injuries & Fireworks – How to Stay Safe This Summer

Summertime means warmer weather and more outdoor activities. This also means holidays where individuals purchase and use fireworks to celebrate with friends and family. However, fireworks are essentially little explosive devices that can lead to severe injuries if mishandled. Every year, thousands of people sustain injuries due to the misuse of fireworks or faulty fireworks.

Here, we want to give some top firework safety tips that could help you stay safe as you go through the major summer holidays. Additionally, we want to discuss some of the main personal injuries that individuals sustain as a result of firework usage.

Good Fireworks Safety Tips to Keep in Mind Each Summer

1. Always be alert. When legal fireworks are out and ready to be shot off, you have to be alert until the entire process is over with. There is no letting your guard down when explosives are being launched into the air.
2. Do not let children handle fireworks or sparklers. Under no circumstances should you allow young children to light or handle any type of firework, including ones that get launched into the air or the handheld sparklers. Sparklers are a leading cause of child injuries this time of year.
3. Keep pets inside. Pets can get very unnerved by fireworks. It is not uncommon for pet pets to get spooked and either run away or become aggressive while fireworks are going off.
4. Wear safety glasses when launching fireworks. If you are launching fireworks, you should wear safety goggles when doing so to prevent serious eye injuries.
5. Do not light a firework in your hand. There should never be a time where fireworks are lit while a person is holding them.
6. Clean the area around the launch site. The area around where the fireworks device will be launched should be cleared away of any debris or major objects. Do not launch round trees, vehicles, or any other obstacle.
7. Do not light a dud firework. If you light fireworks that do not go off, do not go and try to re-light these fireworks. Not only will there be a shorter wick, but this could also lead to explosions without the firework even launching.
8. Avoid alcohol when using fireworks. Alcohol and fireworks often result in disastrous consequences when mixed together. Only a sober person should be launching fireworks.

What Are Common Injuries Suffered in Firework Accidents?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says that fireworks were involved in an estimated 10,000 injuries treated across emergency rooms during one of the most recent reporting years. The vast majority of these injuries occurred between late June and late July of the reporting year. As expected, one of the most common injuries caused by fireworks are burns to the hand. This can include relatively minor burns as well as more serious burns that lead to major blistering and scarring and disfigurement.

Aside from burns, other common types of injuries include injuries to the eyes. This can result from fireworks striking people in the eye as well as dangerous particles flying to the air and landing in somebody’s eye. Other common injuries caused by fireworks include lacerations or hand fractures, facial injuries, finger amputations, and hearing loss.