OHSU Offers Fireworks Safety Tips

   Portland, Ore.

Fireworks can cause amputations, blinding, severe burns or death

Fireworks injured about 11,000 Americans last year, and about half of those injured were younger than 15. Improper use of fireworks or setting off illegal fireworks can cause blinding, amputations, severe burns or death. "Fireworks are inherently dangerous," said Beverly Bauman, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine in Oregon Health & Science University's School of Medicine..

Most patients who visit the OHSU Hospital emergency department for fireworks-related injuries have small burns on their arms and legs, or eye injuries. Each year in the United States, approximately 2,400 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms for eye injuries caused by fireworks. Twenty-five percent of those injuries result in permanent vision loss or blindness. "Eye injuries happen in less than a second but often cause lifelong visual impairment," said David Wheeler, M.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology at OHSU's Casey Eye Institute.

Doctors at OHSU offer the following tips to avoid injuries:

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OHSU Communications
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