News Release: Piccolo caused most cracker injuries in Pangasinan BY: APRIL M. MONTES DAGUPAN CITY, January 9 (PIA) – Piccolo, a prohibited firecracker, remained the leading cause of firecracker-related injuries in Pangasinan during the recent Christmas and New Year celebrations. Dr. Jeremy Rosario, assistant provincial health officer, said the Provincial Health Office (PHO) recorded a total of 64 injury cases due to piccolo or 25 percent of the total number of cases recorded during the holidays. Rosario said their monitoring showed that the total firecracker-related injuries in the province climbed to 257 from the previous 180 recorded for the same period last year. He said such figure was based on the monitoring conducted by the PHO’s epidemiology and surveillance unit from December 21, 2014 to January 6, 2015. Other top causes of injuries were “kwitis” (baby rocket), “boga” (noisemaker) and “lusis” (sparklers), he said during the KBP Forum held at the PIA-Pangasinan office on Thursday. He said majority of the cases involved children aged 10 to 14 years old, followed by those in the age bracket five to nine years old. “It is disheartening to note that despite concerted efforts, more children still became victims of (piccolo) which had been declared illegal,” he said. The provincial board might consider recommending a partial or total ban for firecrackers to lessen firecracker-related injuries, he added. According to the PHO data, 84 percent of the firecracker victims were males. The youngest victim this year was only two years old while the oldest was an 82 year old. Injuries were mainly blast burn in the hand, feet and knee but with no amputation. Others were injured in the chest area, axilla, face, and eye. The PHO also listed seven cases of blast burn with hand amputation. Dagupan City posted the most number of injuries with 38, followed by the municipalities of Bayambang with 22 and Malasiqui with 20, he said. Rosario also reported four stray bullets cases from Asingan, Balungao, Tayug, and Calasiao. He advised New Year revelers not to ignore slight burns and small cuts from firecracker injuries as this could lead to tetanus. “Victims with minor cuts and burns from firecrackers should undergo anti-tetanus shots to prevent infection,” he said. (MCA/AMM/PIA-1, Pangasinan) - See more at: news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1941420706774/piccolo-caused-most-cracker-injuries-in-pangasinan#sthash.h9RqLMCn.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 02:37:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015