4-year-old firecracker victim loses fingers on right hand
BRING IN THE NOISE | Children light firecrackers at Juan Luna Street in Manila on New Year’s Eve 2023. (Photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag on Sunday pushed for a crackdown on vendors of illegal firecrackers after a 4-year-old boy lost all fingers on his right hand when he lighted a “dart bomb” inside his house in Central Luzon.
The boy, the youngest of eight persons reported to be the latest to suffer firecracker-related injuries, also hurt his neck as a result.
“The DOH [Department of Health] is seriously concerned how such deadly and illegal fireworks are able to reach the hands of young children,” Tayag said in a news briefing at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila.
“We ask our police to crack down further on those selling illegal fireworks that find their way to destroy the hands and future of Filipino children,” he added.
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Firework displays
The DOH also appealed to local governments to organize community firework displays to discourage people from using firecrackers on their own during the New Year celebration.
As of Dec. 30, at least 115 people, mostly male, have been treated in hospitals for injuries due to fireworks or firecrackers since the DOH started its monitoring on Dec. 21.
The number of cases, however, is expected to go up on New Year’s Eve.
Beyond DOH figures
Of the 115 cases, 67 or 59 percent were due to illegal fireworks, the most common being the improvised cannon or “boga,” 5-star, “kwitis,” “piccolo,” luces, “pla-pla,” whistle bomb, and unlabeled or imported firecrackers like the dart bomb. The boga, 5-star, piccolo and pla-pla are illegal firecrackers.
Of the eight latest victims, all were male, including the 4-year-old boy, while the oldest was 37 years old. Five of them were hurt due to illegal fireworks while one was a “passive” victim who was just watching someone use firecrackers, according to the DOH.
Broken down by region, of the 115 fireworks-related injuries reported so far, 44 or 38 percent were from Metro Manila. Next were Central Luzon and Ilocos with 13 cases each; followed by Soccsksargen with nine; Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), six; Cagayan Valley, Bicol, and Western Visayas, five cases each; while Davao Region reported one case.
The figures, however, appear to be much higher than those forwarded to the DOH with authorities in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol and Cagayan Valley regions recording almost 100 cases of firecracker-related injuries.
Call to parents, guardians
In Central Luzon, there were at least 56 cases reported to the DOH from Dec. 21 to 30, more than double the 23 recorded for the same period in 2022. Pampanga counted 25 cases from only six in 2022 while the recent cases in Nueva Ecija reached 10; Bulacan, nine; Zambales, five; Tarlac, four; and Bataan, three.
Health authorities in Cagayan Valley recorded 18 firecracker-related injuries, six more compared to the same period in 2022. The DOH Region 2 report said that the last four additional cases were logged between Dec. 29 and 30.
In Bicol, 12 cases were recorded from Dec. 21 to 30 by the DOH Firework-Related Injury Surveillance, which was lower than the 20 logged between Dec. 21, 2022, and Jan. 5 this year.
In Calabarzon, the DOH recorded seven fireworks-related injury cases, also from Dec. 21 to 31.
Last year, at least 307 cases were reported nationwide to the DOH while there was one case of injury due to indiscriminate gun firing in Metro Manila.
Amid the COVID-19 lockdown in 2021, only 189 fireworks-related injuries were reported all over the country.
During the news conference, PGH director Gerardo Legaspi urged parents and guardians to stop children from using fireworks or firecrackers.
But in case of injuries, he said the best first aid while seeking treatment would be to thoroughly wash the affected area and then apply pressure to stop the bleeding.
