Saturday, December 20, 2008 DOH warns vs firecrackers By Cong B. Corrales
THE Department of Health (DOH) warned the public against firecracker-related accidents and urged revelers not to dabble with firecrackers as they celebrate the Christmas and New Year.
Jaime Bernadas, DOH director in Northern Mindanao, said the top five injury-causing firecrackers with their corresponding incidence percentage are: Kwitis, 15 percent; Piccolo, 13 percent; Luces, nine percent; five-star, 7 percent, and Whistle bomb, 5 percent.
Bernadas bared this as the DOH launched the "FOURmula, Kontra Paputok" program Friday, where he reminded the public that the fireworks and other pyrotechnic devices are regulated by law.
"Tanan klase sa paboto makadisgrasya gayod. Legal or illegal firecrackers can inflict injury just the same. Busa aron luwas ang pagselebrar ninyo sa Christmas ug New Year, dili na lang magpalit og paboto, especially now nga adunay krisis sa ekonomiya," Bernadas said.
Although there has been a marked decrease in firework-related injuries this year, the DOH official said there was no reason to slacken up on the drive against the use of firecrackers.
Bernadas said his office has already issued a memorandum to all health facilities in the region to be ready for any eventuality.
"Hopefully what happened in Iligan City will not happen here in Cagayan de Oro. We responded immediately and we have referred two victims at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC). I'm saying this because most of the firecrackers now are practically bombs in themselves," he said, referring to bomb blast in Iligan on Thursday.
In welcoming 2007, there were a total of 869 injuries reported. Of these, 853 cases or 98 percent account for the fireworks-related injuries, 14 cases were stray-bullets injuries, and two cases (0.23 percent) were watusi and firecracker powder ingestion. Three deaths-from "watusi" poisoning and tetanus complications-were also recorded last year.
The Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) said the 2007 figure is 33 percent lower than that of 2006, and represented an eight percent decline in the last three years.
The data collected by the FETP were from the 50 sentinel sites they fielded throughout the country from December 21, 2007 to January 5, 2008.
Bernadas said that of the 869 injuries reported in 2007, 305 cases involved children with ages ranging from 10 years old and younger while 80 percent of these cases involved males.
The National Capital Region (NCR) remains at the top the list when it comes to firecracker-related injuries, the DOH reported.
