No first aid: DOH warns against firecracker ingestion, poisoning

The Department of Health (DOH) warned the public on Monday against firecracker poisoning that cannot be easily treated with first aid.

In a report by Jun Veneracion on GMA's "24 Oras," a 3-year-old kid ingested a firecracker called Flash Bomb. The victim was saved after being brought to the Philippine General Hospital.

"Pag ingestion wala tayong kailangang gawin, kailangan dalhin agad sa ospital. Walang kailangang ipainom o pasukahin dahil it might lead to other injuries," DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Eric Domingo said.

"Dangerous din ang ibang mga paputok natin na itsurang parang kendi, nakabalot sa mga foil at napagkakamalan. Siyempre nakakalason ito," he added.

A total of seven firecracker-related injuries were recorded by DOH since Friday.

This includes the case of a 12-year-old boy in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija whose two fingers were amputated after a prohibited Five Star firecracker exploded on his left hand.

More than 400 similar injuries were monitored by DOH in 2017 and the health department hopes that fewer firecracker-related cases would occur this year.

Meanwhile, a week before New Year's Eve, customers of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices started to buy at stores in Bocaue, Bulacan, home of the country's pyrotechnics industry. —Dona Magsino/ LDF, GMA News