DURHAM, N.C. — As people prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, it’s important to know about the dangers that come with common celebrations like fireworks.
According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 10,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks related injuries in 2022. Additionally, 73% of those injuries happened in the one month period from June 17 to July 17.
Dr. Malcolm DeBaun is the director of orthopedic trauma at Duke Health and says he enjoys serving others.
“This is in my third year of practice and it's been a very exciting place to practice medicine,” DeBaun said. “I was first exposed to medicine with my dad being a physician so I was always tagging along with him. But medicine is one of those specialties, one of those career choices, that you can really serve others.”
Around this time of year, he spends time reminding people about the dangers of certain summertime activities, like using fireworks. He says things become even more dangerous if alcohol is involved.
“Handling explosives, fireworks or explosives, can lead to a blast injury. So the soft tissues, the skin, the muscles, the nerves, the vessels, the blood supply, all of those can be affected in addition to the bones,” DeBaun said.
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission says 10,200 people were treated for fireworks related injuries in 2022. Over half of those injuries were to extremities including hands, fingers, legs and arms, while 35% were to eyes and other parts of the head.
DeBaun says if you are injured while using fireworks, there are a few things you can do right away.
“The first thing you want to do is try to control the bleeding so packing, any type of open wounds. If you have access to a tourniquet or a belt, doing something of that nature to control the bleeding and then present to the nearest emergency department that's close to you for care,” Dr. DeBaun said.
In the end, his biggest piece of advice is to leave the fireworks to the professionals.
“It's not something that you should just be doing casually. Obviously you want to celebrate Independence Day but you do want to do that responsibly,” DeBaun said. “This is kind of like a plea to the public to try to prevent handling of fireworks or doing high risk behaviors.”
About one third of those injured by fireworks in 2022 were kids younger than 15 years old, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.
To celebrate with kids, one safer alternative is to use glow sticks instead of fireworks or sparklers.
If you’re looking for professional fireworks shows to go to on the Fourth of July, visit Spectrum’s online guide to see a list of some events happening across the state.