4th of July Fireworks Safety
Tomorrow is Independence Day, the Fourth of July. One of our traditions is to watch fireworks displays or shoot them off ourselves. Over 9,000 fireworks-related injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms last year. The trend in fireworks-related injuries has been mostly up since 1996, primarily due to celebrations around the advent of a new millennium. The highest injury rates were for children aged 10 to 14. 75% of all injured were male.
Most fireworks injuries involve burns, but there were also contusions, lacerations and other types of injuries. Let’s look at some safety precautions if you’re around fireworks:
- Only adults should light fireworks
- Only use outdoors
- Do not throw fireworks or hold in your hand
- Protect your eyes
- Light one firework at a time and move away quickly
- Never relight a “dud”
- Keep matches and lighters away from children
- Store fireworks out of children’s reach
- Keep pets safe indoors
HAVE A SAFE AND FUN FOURTH OF JULY!