With eggs on standby, Tondo Medical Center ready for firecracker injuries

Health Undersecretary Dr. Myrna Cabotaje inspects equipment at the Tondo Medical center on December 17, 2018. Photos: Tina Panganiban-Perez

Eggs are among the items on the table, ready for patients who ingested watusi.

Health Undersecretary Dr. Myrna Cabotaje on Monday inspected Tondo Medical Center’s readiness to accept patients with firecracker-related injuries.

Laid out on the table presented to her were bone-cutting instruments, as well as medicines and eggs for any revelers coming in after ingesting watusi. Tondo Medical Center chief Dr. Maria Isabelita Estrella, however, said that the hospital has not seen any cases of watusi ingestion since 2015. 

Firecracker-related injuries have also been declining. From 41 in 2015, the number went down to 29 in 2016, and then to 24 in 2017.

Cabotaje is hopeful that there will be no firecracker-related injuries this year as she warned the public not to touch illegal firecrackers, and not to pick up firecrackers that fail to light up.

On January 8 this year, the DOH announced that 463 fireworks-related injuries were reported nationwide in the period from December 21 to January 5, down by 27 percent from the same period the year before.

More than half of the cases were in the National Capital Region, and 79 percent of all cases involved males aged 11 to 69. — BM, GMA News