June 24, 2020
Minnesota’s physicians are urging Minnesotans to practice good health by leaving the lighting of fireworks to the professionals this Fourth of July.
“Every year many Minnesotans get hurt and end up in the emergency department because of fireworks injuries,” said MMA President Keith Stelter, MD. “We’d prefer that they leave these potentially very dangerous explosives to the professionals.”
According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission nearly 200 people go to the emergency department every day with fireworks-related injuries in the two weeks leading up to the July 4th holiday and the two weeks following. Fireworks were involved in an estimated 9,100 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments during calendar year 2018. Injuries occur to all body parts and not just hands and fingers. The most devastating injuries occur to the head and eyes with blindness and facial trauma.
“We recognize it’s disappointing to see many communities cancelling plans for fireworks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” Stelter said. Some fireworks that are purchased out of state or through other channels can be extremely dangerous because of their high explosive content. Even relatively basic fireworks like firecrackers can cause significant injury and the MMA would prefer that fireworks be detonated only by trained individuals and not available to the general public. This point is also made by Jason Pierre-Paul, a professional football player for the New York Giants whose hand was severely injured in a firecracker injury in 2018 and now is a spokesperson for fireworks safety.
More About Practice Good Health
In May, the MMA launched Practice Good Health, a unified effort of its 10,000 physician members to empower Minnesota families to proactively care for their physical and emotional well-being, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practice Good Health provides patient clarity and directly supports Minnesota physicians to create the safest possible care environments and experiences.
Join the conversation online via Facebook and Twitterand share ways to #PracticeGoodHealth. Resources will be available and will be regularly updated on mmed.org/PracticeGoodHealth.
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