CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Saturday many people will be watching fireworks, and some shooting them off. However, with fireworks can come injury.
According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 2019, fireworks caused 10,000 injuries.
THE QUESTION
Are hands the most commonly injured body part, when shooting off fireworks?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, hands are the most commonly injured body part when it comes to shooting off fireworks. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report, 30% of injuries from fireworks were on the hands and fingers.
WHAT WE FOUND
According to the report, 57% of firework injuries were from burns. Trauma program manager Chelsea Sutton said this weekend 200 to 300 people will head to the ER in each state due to firework injuries.
"Each year it seems like the volume of those types of injuries are increasing because this is definitely the busiest weekend of the year that we see that," Sutton said.
According to a Consumer Product Safety Commission report, the most commonly injured body parts are hands and fingers at 30%.
Twenty-three percent of injuries are in the legs, 15% to the eyes, and 16% to the head, face, and ears.
"We see a lot of fractures, particularly in those hands, so when you have a burn and a fracture, that's what makes those injuries difficult to overcome," Sutton said.
Sutton said they usually see patients 25 to 40 years old with these injuries. However, they do sometimes treat children with firework injuries.
"The majority of firework injuries the burns we see with kids under 10 years of age those are the sparklers," Sutton said.
Sutton tells us the best thing to do is check the packaging of the fireworks to know how to properly shoot them off, and always be ready to extinguish a fire.