As befits any birthday celebration, Americans will celebrate this July 4 with food (hot dogs, apple pie, lemonade), music ("The Star Spangled Banner") and pageantry (speeches, parades). And, of course, fireworks!
Who cannot remember the thrill of their first fireworks display, the childish wonder that is rekindled each Fourth? Indeed, many would argue that fireworks are what makes this holiday special.But would anyone say that such celebrations are worth blinding 75 children each year?
Each year 10,000 Americans are injured by fireworks.
In 1985, 11 people were killed by fireworks and another 16 people died in one of the 51,600 fires started by fireworks (National Fire Protection Association data). Each year since, on average, 1,300 people require emergency room treatment for serious eye injury from fireworks (this cost $24 million in 1991).
Over one-half of these injuries occur during the July 4th holiday. Eighty percent of the victims are children. Forty-four percent of ocular fireworks injuries result in a permanently blind eye (U.S. Eye Injury Registry data).
What do these statistics tell us? If you add up the numbers, about 75 children lose an eye each July 4th weekend because of fireworks. But we respond to people, not to statistics.
Carleen was your average, happy 15-year-old when some of her friends were playing with bottle rockets one Fourth. The guys put three bottle rockets in a tube and lit them. Two rockets went up. When Carleen glanced over to see why the third rocket didn't launch, it exploded, crushing her left eye.
She was brought to the hospital for emergency surgery. Despite the heroic efforts of her eye doctors, who labored through five years and seven surgeries to save her eye, she never saw again. Eventually, because of constant pain from uncontrolled glaucoma, her eye had to be removed and replaced with a prosthetic eye.
What does this case illustrate? The enormous danger of bottle rockets. Although they account for only a small fraction of all fireworks, bottle rockets cause 83 percent of all ocular fireworks injuries. In one five-year period 1,322 people had eyes blinded by bottle rockets, mostly during the celebrations surrounding the Fourth.
And, in a seven-year analysis by the Eye Injury Registry of Alabama, bottle rockets accounted for 100 percent of fireworks injuries requiring surgical removal of an eye. The average age of the victims - 13.
Bottle rockets were invented by the Chinese in the 13th century; not for entertainment, but as a weapon of war. A small Class C bottle rocket consists of a two-inch firecracker. It can take off at 75 miles per hour, carrying a significant explosive payload. Yet 23 states still allow the sale and use of bottle rockets, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology has for years advocated legislation banning the sale, resale, use and possession of bottle rockets, except by trained professionals. A wide range of organizations support a bottle rocket ban, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Helen Keller International, the National Fire Protection Council and the National Safety Council.
While Americans do not want to see an end to fireworks, most would support a specific bottle rocket ban; 27 states have already adopted such legislation. A uniform ban in every state would be much more effective by preventing individuals from purchasing bottle rockets in neighboring states.
What can one do as a parent? Write, call or fax your elected representatives, telling them you support a bottle rocket ban. Encourage your children to attend only professional fireworks displays, rather than using fireworks themselves. If your child must use fireworks, while nothing can eliminate the danger, the following guidelines (adapted from the American Academy of Ophthalmology) can help decrease the risk:
Always have adult supervision and use protective eyewear. Use a punk (rather than a match) to light fireworks. Have a bucket of water ready. Always follow manufacturer's directions and dispose of used fireworks properly. Never give a firecracker to a child. Never use a bottle rocket. Do not light firecrackers bigger than your pinkie or light them indoors and avoid relighting duds. Never put fireworks in your pocket, throw them while lit or make homemade firecrackers.
As a first-generation Chinese-American ophthalmologist, I have a unique perspective. A beautiful fireworks display can be among the most moving of cultural expressions, evoking a visceral reaction, whether on Chinese New Year or the Fourth of July.
At the same time, fireworks, invented for war, hold great destructive potential, which I am unfortunate enough to witness each year. I am proud of my ancestors for their invention. I would be many times as proud of my fellow Americans if they join together to end needless blindness from fireworks.