DOH-Visayas records 69 firecracker-related injuries

Vendors report brisk sale of fireworks but slow turnover on firecrackers because of government restrictions. This photo was taken in Guinobatan town, Albay. INQUIRER.net / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

CEBU CITY—The Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine National Police (PNP) reported 69 firecracker-related injuries in the Visayas as of morning of January 1.

Officials said there seems to be a decline in the number of firecracker-related injuries due to the government’s strict regulations and campaign against firecrackers and also the bad weather.

READ: Duterte orders regulated, controlled use of firecrackers

A woman was injured by a stray bullet in Aklan but the PNP said stray bullet injuries also significantly declined.

The PNP in Central Visayas, citing DOH data, reported 36 injuries including 29 in Cebu, 4 in Bohol and 3 in Negros Oriental.

In Western Visayas, 27 were injured due to firecracker blasts, according to Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia, regional coordinator of the DOH’s Violence and Injury Prevention Program.

These include 14 in Negros Occidental, 6 in Iloilo, 3 in Aklan, 2 each in Capiz and Guimaras.

Ten firecrackers blast victims from Bacolod City and other parts of Negros Occidental were taken to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Regional Hospital in Bacolod City.

Health officials in Eastern Visayas also reported a lower number of firecracker injuries reaching six cases.

Not a single case of firecracker blast injury was referred to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) during the New Year revelry, according to Dr. Sean Declarador, EVRMC officer-in-charge.

“Of course, we are happy. This could only mean that the campaign of the government is becoming effective,” Declarador said.

Declarador said the campaign of the government against firecrackers and the bad weather due to tropical storm “Agaton” contributed to the zero incident of blast injury.

“Hopefully, we can have the same in future celebrations. We can save funding in procuring medicines and equipment,” Declarador said.

From December 31 to morning of January 1, not a single case was reported in Eastern Visayas, nine in Western Visayas and at least three in Central Visayas.

Nolie Ursua, was hit by a suspected stray bullet in Buruanga town in Aklan, according to a report of the PNP in Western Visayas.

Ursua, 45, was asleep in her house at Barangay Bel-is in Buruanga around 2 a.m. on January 1 when she was hit in the right thigh.

She was brought to the Malay Municipal Hospital in Aklan for treatment.

The PNP in Western Visayas said the suspected stray bullet case is a sharp decline compared to the 20 cases reported last year. /jpv

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