fireworks safety stressed

Fireworks danger stressed

Thursday, July 01, 2004

By NANCY H. GONTER

ngonter@repub.com

NORTHAMPTON - Hand surgeon Jeffrey Wint isn't expecting a quiet Fourth of July weekend.
"Unfortunately, I face the prospect of being called in at any time," said Wint, who hopes to take in a parade and spend some time in his back yard during the holiday.

Wint, other medical professionals, law enforcement and fire officials yesterday held a press conference calling on area residents to "leave fireworks to the professionals." Members of the state police bomb squad exploded illegal fireworks using mannequins to show the damage they can cause.

A surgeon at the Hand Center of Western Massachusetts who works at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Wint said he has already seen hand injuries caused by fireworks this season.

In one case, a teenage boy was clenching a firecracker in his hand and it blew up before he threw it. The tip of his index finger had to be amputated. In another case, a 14-year-old boy didn't realize the cherry bomb in his hand was lit. He suffered burns to his palm, deep lacerations and several fractures.

"He has the prospect of months of therapy and rehabilitation in order to regain normal function," Wint said.

Of injuries to the hand and upper extremities, 57 percent are caused by fireworks, Wint said.

Patrick C. Lee, a trauma surgeon at Baystate Medical Center, said burn injuries are tragic for children and their families.

"They are a life-changing event. Burns and their treatment are painful, leave surgical and emotional scars, and most of all they are preventable," Lee said.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said many people ask him why children shouldn't play with sparklers.

"I ask them if they would give their children a lighter to play with. Sparklers can burn at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, three times the temperature of a lit match, and hot sparkler fires have ignited clothing, burned bare feet, poked eyes out and started tragic holiday fires," Coan said.

Coan noted that all fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts and it is illegal to bring fireworks into the state, even though they are legal in Connecticut and New Hampshire. It is also illegal to purchase fireworks on the Internet or through catalogs and have them delivered to homes in Massachusetts, he said.

"Remember, the use of fireworks by anyone other than a licensed professional is illegal," Coan said.

The press conference featured a table loaded with fireworks in colorful packaging, much of it clearly intended to attract children. The fireworks were seized by law enforcement authorities. Coan noted children 10-14 are at the greatest risk of fireworks injuries.

Fireworks can be deadly. In December 2003, a 45-year-old Gloucester woman died when fireworks ignited her Christmas tree, starting a house fire. In May 1997, a 26-year-old Watertown man was killed when lighting fireworks in a hallway. On July 4, 1993, a 27-year-old Framingham man was killed when his backyard fireworks exploded in his face, according to the state Department of Fire Services.

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