The July 4th holiday promises to be another busy time for area hospital emergency rooms, fueled in large part by those who mishandle fireworks or ignite them while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
“We’ll see injuries caused by firecrackers that explode in close range and from sparklers that, when mishandled, cause severe burns to the face, hands and feet,” said Peter A. Pappas, MD, FACS, trauma medical director of HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford.
While injuries are caused by the misuse of various fireworks types, firecrackers and sparklers are most often associated with emergency department-treated injuries, Pappas added.
Firecrackers can cause injuries to the hands or face if they explode at close range or while still being held. Sparklers burn at about 2,000 degrees–hot enough to melt metal–and can quickly cause severe burns to the face, hands and feet. Sparklers can also cause eye injuries from their sparks.
“Our advice is simple–have fun over the holiday but leave the fireworks to the experts,” Dr. Pappas said.
Here’s a list of common-sense tips if you are going to light your own fireworks: • Never allow young children to handle fireworks.
• Never use reworks while impaired by alcohol (or worse)
• Light one at a time, then back away • Never hold lighted reworks in your hands and do not try to relight malfunctioning fireworks— face it, duds are duds.
• Keep a bucket of water nearby to fully extinguish fireworks or put out any accidental fires.
• For younger children, consider safer alternatives to sparklers, like glow sticks, confetti poppers or colored streamers.
But what if your forte is photographing the “rockets red glare” instead of handling them? University of Florida Extension Services has some tips for those who want to capture the magic.
Adjustable DLSR cameras with manual settings can be set up for great shots for giving “proof through the night”. For instance:
• Use an aperture of f/8 t- f/16;
• Be sure to take a small flashlight to adjust your settings in the night and a sturdy tripod–this is the best to reduce movement and blurred photos;
• Find your "continuous drive” setting, where holding down the shutter will allow you to shoot multiple shots automatically. On some cameras this is the “sport” setting. Watch for the fireworks as they travel and push and hold the release button;
• Practice playing with light before the fireworks by having friends ‘air write’ their name with the flashlight or sparklers. You, with your trusty tripod and camera settings shoot pictures. You will be amazed at what you get.
For more, go to bit.ly/3L8X1lG
HCA Florida Hospital and UF-IFAS Extension Services contributed to this report.
