Firecracker injuries down in Valenzuela

Two public hospitals in Valenzuela City have recorded only 12 cases of holiday revelry-related injuries from Dec. 21 to Dec. 29 this year.

But Ahna Mejia, chief public information officer, told the Inquirer that the overall figures recorded so far in all of the city hospitals were not that high compared to previous years.

Although it was too early to say if the number of cases for this year would go up and exceed that of 2010, she expressed optimism that the city’s information campaign against the use of firecrackers would have a positive effect.

In Valenzuela General Hospital, four cases of firecracker injuries were reported by hospital officials.

Elaine Catacutan, emergency room nurse, told the Inquirer that the victims were rushed to the hospital on Padriga Street in Barangay Karuhatan between Dec. 21 and 26.

“Two of them were minors, the other two of age,” Catacutan said.

She added, however, that the four patients required only minimal treatment, with three of them discharged after they received treatment.

“A 34-year-old man had an ear injury caused by a baby rocket. He was taken here on Dec. 25 but [he] did not have to be confined,” she explained.

The same was true for a 19-year-old male who had a blast injury, and an 8-year-old boy whose right hand was burnt by a five star.

The worst case recorded, Catacutan said, was that of a 7-year-old who had to be referred to Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila because a piccolo exploded near his right eye.

“If the injuries involve the eye, nose or tongue, we usually refer them there,” Catacutan added.

In Valenzuela City Emergency Hospital in Barangay Polo, Gloria Hortelano, the supervisor, told the Inquirer that eight cases of holiday revelry-related incidents have so far been recorded.

The patients, whose ages range from 9 to 18 years, were rushed to the hospital in the period from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30.

Three of the patients, Hortelano said, were minors, two 9-year-olds and a 13-year-old boy.

One of the 9-year-olds, she said, was injured by a piccolo.

Mejia admitted that as far as she knew, there were no designated firecracker zones in the city but she was quick to add that the local government had been strictly enforcing the prohibitions put in place by the national government when it comes to selling firecrackers.