DOH reports three more fireworks-related injuries

The health department began its fireworks-related injuries surveillance on December 21. (File Photo by André Hofmeister/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday reported three more fireworks-related injuries (FWRIs) in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and the Bicol Region.

The FWRIs were recorded by 60 sentinel hospitals from 6 a.m. on Friday until 5:59 a.m. on Saturday. One case was recorded for each region.

They involved males aged between 2 and 69, who played with fireworks banned by the government.

The health department began its fireworks-related injuries surveillance on December 21.

To date, there are a total of 43 FWRIs recorded. The figure includes the reported two cases of fireworks’ ingestion.

Twenty-three out of the total FWRIs happened on the streets. Moreover, 18 of the cases took place at home while the remaining two occurred in other places.

Under Executive Order No. 28, the use of firecrackers shall be confined to community fireworks display areas to minimize the risk of injuries and casualties.

The DOH also warned the public against illegal fireworks, such as watusi, piccolo, atomic triangle, large Judas belt, large bawang, pillbox, boga, Goodbye Philippines, Bin Laden, mother rockets, lolo thunder, coke-in-can, kwitom, atomic bomb, five star, pla-pla, giant whistle bomb, kabasi, and other unlabeled and imported firecrackers.

Among the banned fireworks, Boga caused the highest number of injuries, followed by Kwitis, Piccolo, Triangle, Baby Rocket, Bawang, Camara and Luces.