Fewer firecracker-related injuries in W. Visayas’ in 2022

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Injuries caused by firecrackers were lower when Ilonggos welcomed 2022, compared to previous years, according to the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) on Saturday, January 1.

In a press release, the DOH-WV CHD stated that it logged 33 firecracker injuries as of 4 a.m. Saturday.

The number is 21 percent lower than those logged at the same time in 2021 (42), 2020 (115), and 2019 (139).

The top injuries were blast or burn injuries (16 cases) and eye injuries (14 cases), which did not require amputation.

Dr. Doris Cordova, chief of the Western Visayas Medical Center’s (WVMC) Emergency Room department, confirmed in a press conference on Saturday that only one minor was admitted to their hospital but was immediately released.

The minor was just one of the 16 cases of those aged 11 to 20 years old, which constituted the plurality (48 percent) of the total number of cases.

As to the areas where the injuries were admitted, 11 came from sentinel sites and 22 came from non-sentinel sites.

Sentinel sites refer to the hospitals required to report the injuries to the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau through their Online National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (ONEISS).

In Western Visayas, the sentinel sites include the Western Visayas Medical Center and the Iloilo Mission Hospital (Iloilo City), Western Visayas Sanitarium (Sta. Barbara, Iloilo), and the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (Bacolod City).

Non-sentinel sites, meanwhile, pertain to other hospitals who have also reported injuries to the DOH.

During their press conference at the WVMC, DOH-WV CHD Regional Director Adriano Suba-an said that community awareness and lack of demand for firecrackers were the main factors for the downtrend.

Suba-an also pointed to the participation of the health sector, local government units, and other private sector partners in joining and promoting the DOH’s ‘Oplan Iwas Paputok’ campaign.

“What we saw as we went around is that there was a high level of awareness of the residents in the community in using firecrackers in celebrating [New Year’s Eve], and also there is a low supply when it comes to available firecrackers, so supply and demand plays an important role,” Suba-an said in a press conference.

Locations where the injuries occurred have not been disclosed even as of this writing, and officials from the DOH-WV CHD state that the breakdown per area will be disclosed along with their full report on Wednesday, Jan 5.