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Fireworks-Related Injuries

Fireworks are often a part of special times like the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve. But fireworks can be dangerous, and injuries from fireworks can prevent people from reaching their full potential. In 2007, an estimated 9,800 people – an average of more than 26 people every day– were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained from fireworks¹, and more than half of those injured were children. Whenever you celebrate, learn how to protect yourself and those you care about from fireworks–related injuries.

How can fireworks injuries be prevented?

• The safest way to prevent fireworks-related injuries is to leave fireworks displays to trained professionals.

How big is the problem?

• In 2007, eleven people died and an estimated 9,800 were treated in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries in the United States.¹
• An estimated 5 in every 100 fireworks-related injuries treated in emergency departments required hospitalization.¹

Who is most at risk for fireworks-related injuries?

• More than two of every three fireworks-related injuries in 2007 occurred between June 22 and July 22. During that time period:
  • More than 4 of every 10 people injured were children under 15 years of age.
  • People under twenty sustained more than half (54%) of all injuries from fireworks.
  • 7 out of every 10 people who sustained fireworks-related injuries were male.¹
• People actively participating in fireworks–related activities are more frequently and severely injured than bystanders.²

What kinds of injuries occur?

• Between June 22 and July 22, 2007:
  • The body parts most often injured were hands (2,300 injuries), eyes (1,500 injuries), and the head, face, and ear (1,400 injuries).¹
  • More than half of the injuries were burns. Burns were the most common injury to all body parts except the eyes and head areas, where contusions, lacerations and foreign bodies in the eye occurred more frequently.¹
• Fireworks can be associated with blindness, third degree burns, and permanent scarring.²
• Fireworks can also cause life-threatening residential and motor vehicle fires.¹

What types of fireworks are associated with most injuries?

• Between June 22 and July 22, 2007:
  • There were 1,000 injuries associated with firecrackers, 1,100 associated with sparklers and 900 associated with rockets.¹
  • Sparklers caused 200 injuries to children less than 5 years of age.¹
• Between 2000-2005, more than one-third of the fireworks-related deaths involved professional devices that were illegally sold to consumers.³

How and why do these injuries occur?

• Availability: In spite of federal regulations and varying state prohibitions, many types of fireworks are still accessible to the public. Distributors often sell fireworks near state borders, where laws prohibiting sales on either side of the border may differ.
• Fireworks type: Among the various types of fireworks, some of which are sold legally in some states, bottle rockets can fly into peoples' faces and cause eye injuries; sparklers can ignite clothing (sparklers burn at more than 1,000°F); and firecrackers can injure the hands or face if they explode at close range.
• Being too close: Injuries may result from being too close to fireworks when they explode; for example, when someone leans over to look more closely at a firework that has been ignited, or when a misguided bottle rocket hits a nearby person.
• Lack of physical coordination: Younger children often lack the physical coordination to handle fireworks safely.
• Curiosity: Children are often excited and curious around fireworks, which can increase their chances of being injured (for example, when they re-examine a firecracker dud that initially fails to ignite).
• Experimentation: Homemade fireworks (for example, ones made of the powder from several firecrackers) can lead to dangerous and unpredictable explosions.⁴

What is the annual cost of fireworks-related injuries?

• An estimated 2,300 reported structure or vehicle fires were started by fireworks in 2006. These fires resulted in $34 million in direct property damage.⁵

What are the laws?

• Under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission prohibits the sale of the most dangerous types of fireworks and the components intended to make them. The banned fireworks include various large aerial devices, M-80s, quarter-sticks, half-sticks and other large firecrackers. Any firecracker with more than 50 milligrams of explosive powder and any aerial firework with more than 130 milligrams of flash powder is banned under federal law, as are mail order kits and components designed to build these fireworks.⁶