BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The long Fourth of July weekend was only hours old Thursday night when an at-home fireworks critically injured a Tristate child.
Ten-year-old Ben Bothen of Boone County lit an "artillery shell" -- a round ball that is dropped into a foot-long tube -- shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday. The fireworks immediately went off.
It exploded in his face.
SAFETY TIPS
|
|
The Washington DC-based National Council on Fireworks Safety offers these safety tips regarding fireworks:
Buy fireworks from reliable fireworks sellers.
Keep a bucket of water nearby when lighting fireworks.
Light fireworks one at a time and in an area away from flammable materials.
Never re-ignite malfunctioning fireworks.
Never shoot fireworks in metal or glass containers.
Never give fireworks to small children.
For more safety information, see go to the National Council on Fireworks Safety's Web page at http://www.fireworksafety.com
|
Ben was taken to St. Luke Hospital West and later to Shriners Burns Institute in Cincinnati, where he was listed in critical condition Friday.
This fireworks injury isn't likely the last one paramedics will see this holiday weekend.
In 1997, about 8,300 people nationwide were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). That's up from about 7,600 fireworks-related injuries in 1996.
But the number is still down from the 12,900 injuries in 1994, and 11,300 injuries in 1995, according to the CPSC.
Nearly half of the victims last year were younger than 15.
A CPSC study found firecrackers, rockets and sparklers caused most emergency room-treated injuries.
"Go to a professional fireworks display if you really want to see them," said Al Millard, Union Emergency Medical Services chief. "That's what they are there for."
