cAs usual, as December 31 approaches, we return to talk about New Year’s barrels and security. Last year, despite the bans, many celebrated with fireworks and firecrackers and there was no shortage of accidents. The budget of the Department of Public Safety was in fact of 558 interventions by the fire brigade14 seriously injured, i.e. with a prognosis of more than 40 days, and one significant increase in minors involved, 20 compared to 8 the previous year.
On New Year’s Eve, in fact, when accidents to fingers and hands increase due to the explosion of firecrackers and barrels, to pay the price are above all children and adolescents, victims of injuries that cannot be defined as minor. New Year’s barrels can indeed cause serious injury to all structures of the hand.
As explained by Dr Giorgio Pivato, Head of the Hand Surgery and Reconstructive Microsurgery Unit at Humanitas.
New Year’s barrels: hand injuries caused by firecrackers
At the origin of the accidents, which unfortunately occur not just on New Year’s Eve but also on the preceding and following feast days, there is often a reckless use of illegal products.
«The injuries that these firecrackers produce on bones, tendons and ligaments are comparable to those of war mines or a hand grenade. – underlines Dr. Pivato – The hands and fingers, in addition to the face, they are the part most exposed to the firecracker explosion and, therefore, also the most at risk of very serious accidents that can lead to disabling and permanent results».
New Year’s barrels: what to do if a firecracker bursts in your hand?
First of all, it’s important know how to intervenewithout making mistakes, in case of accidents caused by the explosion of firecrackers.
«If a Frlate explodes in hand, generates a blast wound associated with burn injuries that cannot be treated with “gauze and plaster”. – continues the specialist – The first thing to do, in case of bleeding is try to stop the blood from flowing. This can be done by blotting the wound with sterile gauze if you have it, otherwise you can apply a lace, which can be a belt or a strip of fabric (however wide enough not to produce cuts if squeezed too tightly), upstream of the tissue laceration, approximately one head above the lesion. This way you can slow down bleeding and run immediately to the nearest emergency room or call for help to be taken to a center specialized in the treatment of hand pathologies”.
In fact, it is very important to keep the limb raised and not to remove the tourniquet until the arrival of the ambulance or emergency room personnel. “Last, but not least, it is try to recover any amputated segments and store them in a plastic bag immersed in a container with water and ice. – specifies the specialist again – This could prove to be fundamental for a possible reconstructive possibility».
What are the consequences?
Depending on severity of the injuryit is then the medical staff who decide how to intervene.
«At best, the explosion could have involved a finger or a phalanx, therefore only a portion of the finger, which may require reconstruction with microsurgery. – Dr. Pivato points out again – In the worst case, however, the damage could be such as to require the amputation of fingers or handssometimes also of the wrist due to the impossibility of a primary reconstruction. The loss of a segment of the hand or of the whole hand is an event that dramatically compromises the performance of one’s daily activities, work, hobbies or sports, and in most cases leaves permanent results. In these cases of serious blowout injuries, which are still too frequent, there is no alternative to surgeryand the patient is a candidate for the use of a prosthesis’.
New Year’s barrels: hand-saving advice
in living room during Christmas holidays
As we said, if most of the injuries caused by barrels are recorded in the night between December 31st and January 1st, it is in the days following New Year’s that traumas in children occur more frequently, which they collect unexploded firecrackers remained on the ground.
«The appeal, in this case, is addressed above all to the parents – concludes Doctor Pivato – so that they can explain to their children what are the risks associated with the purchase and improper use of illegal barrels».
In the gallery above, some suggestions for preventing risks.
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