DOH logs 1st death related to fireworks

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday recorded the first death due to fireworks.

In its latest Fireworks-Related Injuries (FWRI) Report, the DOH said the fatality is a 38-year-old man from Ilocos region who lit a cigarette while drinking with companions near a storage room for firecrackers.

At the same time, the DOH also reported the first confirmed case of stray bullet injury (SBI) due to fireworks use – a 23-year-old male from Davao region who had a gunshot wound to his left upper back.

“Guns, liquor and fireworks should never mix. Let us work to avoid injuries and deaths from stray bullets and ‘accidents’ due to intoxication. Responsible gun owners know that bullets that go up will go down, and discharging firearms is not a way to celebrate,” the DOH warned.

“The death reported today was an incident waiting to happen because liquor impairs judgment. We can prevent these; we must work together across all sectors to do so,” it added.

The DOH noted that 212 new cases – including the one death and one SBI case – were recorded from 6 a.m. of Jan. 1 to 5:59 a.m. of Jan. 2.

The new cases range from one to 71 years old, with almost eight out of ten (166 or 79 percent) cases male. Ninety-seven percent (206) of these new cases occurred at home and in the streets.

Almost half (102 or 49 percent) were due to legal fireworks while less than half of the cases (94 or 45 percent) had active involvement.

There are six new amputation cases, bringing the total to 117 while there are 122 (122 or 28 percent) cases with eye injuries, leading to one confirmed blindness.

One more hearing loss case brought the total to two.

According to the DOH, there are now 443 injuries overall, with 441 due to fireworks, one due to watusi ingestion and one SBI.

There have been no additional reports of fireworks ingestion thus far.

Almost six out of every ten cases are from the National Capital Region (254 or 57 percent), followed by Ilocos (36 or 8 percent), Central Luzon (35 or 8 percent) and Calabarzon (29 or 7 percent).

Ninety seven percent happened at home and in the streets, mostly males with active involvement.

Fireworks that caused the most injuries – at least seven