Keep piccolo, other fireworks out of children’s reach, DOH urges parents

As the holidays draw closer, the Department of Health on Monday appealed to parents and guardians to keep fireworks—especially "piccolo"—from children aged 6 to 10, lest they welcome 2014 with a fireworks-related injury.

The DOH said its statistics from last year's holiday season, from Dec. 21, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013, showed that fireworks users aged 6 to 10 received firecrackers from their parents or elder siblings.

During the period, there were 931 fireworks-related injuries recorded: 904 were due to fireworks, 25 were from stray bullets, and two were firecracker ingestions. At least one death was recorded compared to four the previous year.

Among the fireworks injuries, 236 were caused by piccolo, "followed by unknown firecrackers (143), kwitis (128), five-star (55), and pla-pla (42)," the DOH said.

The majority of the fireworks-related injuries occurred in Metro Manila (521), followed by Western Visayas (75), Ilocos (73), and Calabarzon (59).

In the National Capital Region, Manila recorded the highest number of accidents (168), followed by Quezon City (120), Mandaluyong City (44), Caloocan City (34), and Valenzuela City (29).

DOH Secretary Enrique Ona said that injuries from prohibited fireworks were four times more likely to occur among those aged below 18, three times more likely to occur among males, and three times more likely to occur among those aged 5 to 12 years.

He also pointed out that these are injuries that can be avoided.

"When again many children get maimed from firework-related injuries, it becomes another disaster which we can pretty much avoid," he said. — BM, GMA News