Days after the New Year festivities, hospitals are still treating people injured by fireworks. These injuries are becoming more and more serious, denounces the Fondation des Brûlés.
The number of victims presenting to burn centers and hospitals with open wounds and finger injuries continued to increase this year. The reason is the use of heavier fireworks. This was indicated on Saturday by the Burn Foundation, which helps those with severe burns.
Fewer burns, but more wounds and lesions
Last year there were 139; this year, there are already 122 as of this date. But if the burns are significantly fewer (39 out of 122), open wounds and finger injuries are more numerous this year again (38 instead of 31 last year). In addition, 24 victims suffered hearing damage and 21 eye damage.
“The hands, fingers and face remain the parts of the body where injuries are most often diagnosed. There has been a sharp increase in injuries to hands and fingers, showing that these injuries are becoming more serious due to mishandling of more powerful illegal fireworks, such as Cobra 6 and a combination of different fireworks“, according to the Foundation.
Often purchased illegally
It is also striking that four out of ten victims are under the age of 18 and often come from urban areas. Another notable fact is that 80% of fireworks were purchased illegally. In addition, accidents linked to fireworks are more numerous in rural communities than in cities. “In cities, it is often well-organized groups of young people who set off large quantities of fireworks in a short time, for example targeting the police, but also protecting themselves well against possible injuries“, underlines the report.
The Foundation deplores the trend of using fireworks against police, firefighters and emergency services. She calls for such acts to be severely punished. More generally, the Foundation calls for a total ban on the use and sale of fireworks in Belgium.
fireworks injuries burns foundation
