Large community-sponsored firework displays put on by responsible pyrotechnic professionals make increasing sense, he said. Adults also need to be very aware of the message they send to children when they themselves act irresponsibly or carelessly with fireworks. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 1998 hospital emergency rooms treated about 8,500 people for fireworks-related injuries. About 40 percent of the victims were children under age 15. Injuries over the last three years, however, were lower than they had been in previous years, a decrease of about a third since 1994.
Injuries range from burned fingers to death, and more than half the damage is to homes.
Four percent to five percent of people treated in emergency departments are injured on 25 percent or more of their bodies. North Carolina legalized sale of sparklers, explosive caps for toy pistols, snake and glow worms, smoke devices, trick noisemakers and other sparkling devices in December 1993 to keep state residents from spending their fireworks money elsewhere. Burns are among the worst kinds of injuries in terms of pain, length of healing and cost. Those of us who treat or see burned patients on a daily basis know how terrible these injuries can be. Marshall at 966-1320.