THE number of reported injuries related to holiday firecrackers rose to 167 as of 6 a.m. yesterday from Dec. 21, 2021, a little higher than the 153 tallied by the Department of Health on Sunday.
A report of the DOH’s Fireworks-Related Injury Surveillance said the latest figure on the use of fireworks and firecrackers to welcome the New Year is “39% higher compared to 2020, which was 120 cases.”
The DOH said all injuries were caused by firecrackers and fireworks, 84 of which were illegal fireworks.
“Kwitis” caused the most injuries at 37 followed by unknown kinds of firecrackers at 25, “boga” at 15, “luces” at 13 and “5-star” at 12.
The report also showed that 17 cases (10%) had blast/burn injury requiring amputation, 110 cases (66%) had blast/burn injury not requiring amputation, and 44 cases (26%) had eye injuries.
Hand injuries were the most common, with 55 followed by eyes, 44, and head injuries with 23 cases.
The DOH said 75 cases (45%) were found to be active users of firecrackers while 92 cases (55%) are passive users.
It also said 91 cased (54%) that occurred at home, 74 cases (44%) in the streets, 1 case (4%) at a workplace, and 1 case (4%) at a basketball court.
Most of the cases (65) occurred in the National Capital Region, Ilocos Region (25), and Western Visayas (23).
The DOH said no case of fireworks ingestion, stray bullet injury, or death has been reported.
