DOH: Firecracker-related injuries climb to 288

MANILA, Philippines — Days after the New Year celebration, cases of fireworks-related injuries are still being reported by government hospitals nationwide.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported 52 additional cases as of yesterday morning, bringing the total to 288 for this year.

The DOH said though that this year’s injuries were 43 percent lower compared to the same period in 2018 and 66 percent less than the five-year average.        

A majority or 27 of the new cases came from the National Capital Region. Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Central Luzon recorded five new cases each, while the Ilocos, Calabarzon and SOCCSKSARGEN regions posted three new cases each. Davao region only had one.         

Of the total, 231 were males with ages ranging from two to 76 years. More than half of the cases (164) were caused by illegal firecrackers. Two patients were admitted following ingestion of firecrackers while 286 sustained fireworks injuries.

At least 152 cases occurred on streets, 124 in houses and three at areas designated for fireworks display. Seventy-six of the victims sustained eye injuries, 220 had blast and burn injuries without amputation and 10 sustained injuries requiring amputation.

The DOH said the top fireworks that caused injuries were kwitis, luces, piccolo, boga and 5-star.

In Pangasinan province, the Provincial Health Office reported that although the number of injuries continued to increase, the total was 14 percent lower compared to the same period (Dec. 21, 2017 to Jan. 2, 2018) last year.

The health office recorded 84 cases as of yesterday morning, while government hospitals in the province reported 98. 

Rodhalia Binay-an, nurse coordinator, said the youngest case was that of a one-year-old boy while the oldest was a 70-year-old male. The most-affected age group is 10- to 14-years old and a majority were males.

Dagupan City has the most number of cases with 14, followed by San Carlos City with 12 and Lingayen with 8.

Fire Supt. Eddie Jucutan also reported that the entire Region 1, which includes Pangasinan, had no fire incident caused by firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices this year.

He attributed the success to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)’s “Pito at Torotot Para sa Kaligtasan Mo” campaign, which encouraged people to use whistles and toy trumpets to welcome 2019.

Chief Supt. Mario Espino, Cagayan Valley Region police chief, also noted a decline in fireworks-related injuries in the area.

He reported that Cagayan province only had 11 cases – the highest in the region – while Isabela had seven and Nueva Vizcaya, one.

A sharp increase was noted in Western Visayas with cases rising to 97 injuries on Jan. 3 from only 50 on Jan. 1.

Supt. Joem Malong, Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 spokesman, said the sharp rise was due to the failure to immediately report incidents to police stations.

Most of the additional cases, he said, happened on New Year’s Eve and were known only through hospital records.

The majority of these happened in Negros Occidental province with 36 cases, followed by Capiz with 27. Iloilo had 13; Bacolod City, seven; Aklan, six; Iloilo City, four; Guimaras, three and Aklan, one.

The PRO-6 also declared three stray bullet incidents although no one was seriously hurt. Last year, it recorded only one stray bullet incident and 44 firecracker-related injuries, covering the period Dec. 16, 2017 to Jan. 1, 2018.

Also yesterday, PRO-6 destroyed the seized illegal firecrackers and fireworks by placing these in water-filled containers for three days before burying them. Most of those seized exceeded the 0.02-gram limit of gunpowder per firecracker. – With Eva Visperas, Raymund Catindig, Jennifer Rendon