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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA and ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Monday, January 2, 2017
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ILOILO City – Most of the firecracker victims during the New Year revelry were youngsters between 11 to 15 years old, according to the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
But the youngest so far recorded was a three-year-old boy from Pototan, Iloilo, said Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia, spokesperson for DOH-6’s Oplan Iwas Paputok campaign.
The boy got hurt by a boga – a noisemaker made from a length of PVC pipe of substantial diameter mated to a toy gun.
Denatured alcohol (sometimes paint thinner or acetone) is sprayed into the pipe’s breech end and ignited by the toy gun’s trigger mechanism which is connected to a piezo igniter, or by putting small fire.
When ignited by a spark from the trigger mechanism or by small fire, the combination of air and flammable fuel in the pipe’s enclosed space causes the fuel-air mixture to combust, resulting in a loud, booming sound.
But Sta. Lucia said most of the injuries were from the firecracker piccolo – a thin, small, cylindrical stick filled with gunpowder and lit in the same way as a match.
Piccolo can explode even on wet surfaces or underwater due to its thick and water resistant cardboard shell just like the other firecrackers.
Because piccolo is readily available – even if the government has banned it – and inexpensive, it has since earned notoriety as a leading cause of firecracker-related injuries in the country, especially among children.
As of yesterday morning, DOH-6 counted 63 firecracker-related injuries in Western Visayas, including those from Negros Occidental. The number could still rise.
On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2016, a 12-year-old boy in Barangay Dalije, Miag-ao, Iloilo sustained injuries on his right hand. He played with a firecracker, police said.
Andrew Senoson was brought to a clinic. His right thumb, middle and index fingers were wounded.
Police said the firecracker Senoson was playing with exploded around 4:15 p.m.
The oldest firecracker victim, on the other hand, was a 68-year-old man from Pontevedra, Negros Occidental.
DOH-6 data showed the province of Capiz having the most number of cases with 21, followed by Negros Occidental with 20, Iloilo City with 11, Iloilo province with nine and Aklan with two.
According to Sta. Lucia, the figures were culled from DOH-6’s two sentinel sites – Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao, Iloilo City and Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City since Dec. 21, 2016.
Last Jan. 1, 2016 the accumulated cases reached 48, according to Sta. Lucia.
In a press conference in Manila yesterday morning, Health secretary Paulyn Ubial said Western Visayas’ firecracker-related injuries were “10 percent” of the 350 cases the DOH central office monitored as of 6 a.m. She said this was much lesser than the figures January last year.
The National Capital Region had the most number of cases so far at 211 or 60 percent of the total, said Ubial.
Piccolo remained the most injurious firecracker causing 132 injuries or 38 percent, said Ubial, followed by kwitis with 44 cases or 13 percent, luces and fountain with five percent each.
Ubial commended national agencies, local governments, non-government organizations and the media for campaigning against the use of firecrackers to welcome the new year.
The total number of cases so far gathered was “60 percent lower” than last year’s, she said.
“We need to strengthen our campaign. Our goal is zero casualties from fireworks / firecrackers during the holidays,” stressed Ubial.
The DOH secretary warned the public not to pick up un-blasted firecrackers since these could still explode.
“Nais naming pakiusapan lalo na ang mga bata na huwag mamulot ng paputok na nagkalat sa kalsada. Siguraduhin din natin na pumunta sa ospital kung ikaw ay nagkasugat sa paputok,” Ubial said.
She also called on everyone to help clean the environment of firecracker debris.
“Maliit man o malaki ang sugat, dapat pa rin itong malapatan ng tamang gamot. Ang tetano ay nakamamatay at nakukuha ito sa mga paputok. Hangad ng DOH na magkaroon tayo ng isang malusog, ligtas at manigong bagong taon,” said Ubial.
DOH will continue monitoring the firecracker-related injuries until Jan. 5. Last year, a total of 939 cases were tallied./PN
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