Thursday, January 03, 2008
Firecracker-related cases down; no stray bullet injuries reported
THERE were fewer firecracker-related injuries in Central Visayas during the recent New Year festivities compared to last year’s. There were no reports of injuries caused by stray bullets.
From Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, 75 cases of firecracker-related injuries were reported by the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) of the Department of Health (DOH) 7.
The figure brought to 91 the total number of firecracker-related injuries for Christmas and New Year.
Resu’s report, a copy of which was faxed to Sun.Star Cebu, did not indicate which types of fireworks were involved in the accidents.
Drop
DOH 7 Regional Director Susana Madarieta, however, stressed in a phone interview that she still needs to verify the data, saying she received different figures from different sources.
“Even if there are a total of 91 cases, it will mean about a 35 percent decrease from last year, which had 131 cases. What I initially learned is that there are only 75 cases, which spells about a 43 percent drop. Either way, for us, that is good,” said Madarieta.
She said no injuries caused by stray bullets were recorded and that there were only at least two victims that required amputation.
The youngest victim is four years old and the oldest is 55 years old, both bystanders, she said.
Police Regional Office (PRO)7 Director Ronald Roderos, meanwhile, said he was happy there were no stray bullet injuries.
“That is good news. We verified this with the Department of Health, zero (stray bullet cases). There is none,” Roderos told reporters yesterday.
Roderos, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador and Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Carmelo Valmoria agreed that the recent figure is “very much lower” compared to the number of firecracker injuries in the previous year.
Dead
Comendador said that unlike Christmas in Cebu City, which was marred by several bloody incidents, New Year was relatively peaceful except for a shooting in Barangay Kasambagan.
Comendador, however, said Monday night’s shooting to death of Arrol M. Adulfo, 40, proprietor of Methus Lechon in Sition NGA, Kasambagan, was an isolated case and not related to the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Adulfo, who had a gunshot wound in the nape, did not make it alive to the Perpetual Succour Hospital.
The gunman’s alleged accomplice, identified as Junard P. Ramin, was pursued and arrested. A manhunt is still being conducted for the gunman.
Majority of the firecracker injuries cases, at 61, came from Cebu Province. The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center recorded the highest number with 14 injuries, followed by Lapu-Lapu District Hospital and Cebu Doctors Hospital with 11 injuries each.
The least number of recorded cases is in Visayas Community Medical Center and Talisay District Hospital with three cases each.
Gallares Hospital in Tagbilaran, Bohol Province reported eight cases while Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital reported six injuries.
Two other shooting incidents occurred last Tuesday. One of the victims was an 18-year-old student in Barangay Buhisan, while the other victim was a construction worker in St. Jude Acres, Bulacao.
Information
Roderos and the two other police officials said the sharp decrease in firecracker injuries can be attributed to public awareness that using firecrackers is dangerous. They credit this to the information campaign and the aggressive confiscation and campaign against firecracker vendors.
Police officials also credited the taping of gun muzzles as partly responsible for the absence of stray bullet injuries.
“It’s better to use torotot, pans and kettles (instead of firecrackers),” Roderos said.
Resu earlier reported a 50 percent decrease in firecracker-related incidents over the Christmas holidays, from 31 cases in Dec. 2006 to 16 injuries in Dec. 2007. (NRC/JST)
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