DOH records 6 cases of firecracker related-injuries in Region-12

KORONADAL CITY -- Six persons were injured by firecrackers in the Soccsksargen region as they welcomed Christmas Day, health officials said Monday.Jenny Ventura, focal person of the regional health office's campaign against firecrackers in an effort to prevent firecracker-related injury, said the monitoring for the region began last December 20.As of Dec. 25, Ventura said, the Online National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (ONEISS), reported six cases of firecracker-related injuries in the provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and the cities of Cotabato, Kidapawan, Tacurong, Koronadal and Gen. Santos.Ventura said the figure is 68 percent lower compared to the same period last year.Of the victims, five were male and one was female, and their ages ranged from 5 years to 56 years. She added that five of them were classified as active users of firecrackers and one was a bystander.Four of them were victims of the banned 'piccolo', while one was hit by a 'kwitis' and one by an unidentified firecracker.Ventura said all of them were sent home after receiving medical treatment from various hospitals in the region.She also appealed to parents to remind their children not to play with firecrackers to save them from deadly injuries.In last year's monitoring by the health department, Ventura said the regional health office recorded 64 firecracker-related injuries in Region 12.Nationwide, DOH on Monday reported 48 fireworks-related injuries since its monitoring began on December 21.According to the department’s 'Aksyon Paputok' Injury Reduction (APIR) 2016 report, the figure is 56 percent lower compared to the five-year average from 2011 to 2015, and is 49 percent lower compared to the same period last year.The report said 42 of the 48 cases involved males, while 34 involved children less than 15 years old. The youngest victim was 4 years old.Of the 48, 27 suffered injuries to their hand, 13 to the eye, four to the arm, three to the abdomen, and one was a case of firecracker ingestion.A total of 23 cases were caused by the ‘piccolo’, five by the improvised cannon called ‘boga’, five by the ‘whistle bomb’, three by ‘kwitis’, and the rest by ‘luces’ and other firecrackers.The National Capital Region (NCR) still topped all other regions, with 25 cases.The monitoring of firecracker-related injuries, which ends on Jan. 5, is done annually as part of efforts to discourage the public from lighting firecrackers to achieve zero casualty during the holiday season.