Holiday revelry injuries hit 443

THE PHILIPPINE health agency on Tuesday posted 212 more fireworks-related injuries during the New Year festivities between Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, including a fatality from Ilocos Region in the country’s north, bringing the total cases during the holiday season to over 440.

The first confirmed fatality was a 38-year-old male “who lit a cigarette while drinking with others near firecrackers in storage,” the Department of Health (DoH) said in a statement. The agency also reported the country’s first stray bullet injury case, who had a gunshot wound to his left upper back.

The total injuries during the holiday season climbed to 443, 441 one of which were due to fireworks. One of the total cases was due to watusi ingestion and another one was due to a stray bullet.

The agency said 97% or 206 of the new cases occurred at home and in the streets.

“The new cases range from 1 to 71 years old (median age: 22), with almost eight out of 10 cases that are male,” it said.

There were six new amputation cases, bringing the total to 17, it said. There were 122 cases with eye injuries and two cases with hearing loss, it added.

“The death reported today was an incident waiting to happen because liquor impairs judgement,” DoH said. “We can prevent these; we must work together across all sectors to do so.”

Metro Manila accounted for more than half or 254 of the total fireworks-related cases, followed by Ilocos Region with 36 cases, Central Luzon with 35 cases, Cagayan Valley with 35 cases, and Calabarzon with 29 cases.

Kwitis was the top cause of injuries, followed by 5-Star, boga, pla-pla, whistle bomb, fountain, luces, piccolo, and triangle.

“Illegal fireworks are to blame for just four out of every 10 cases (173, 39%), with legal fireworks causing more injuries.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza