Bonfire Night - not quite the 4th of July

  • Published
  • By Bill Morrow
  • 501st Combat Support Wing chief of safety
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Back in the states there are a couple of times a year when fireworks come out; New Year's, Christmas, and July 4, to name a few.

Here in the U.K. you'll also see some of those same events bring out fireworks (not so much our July 4 for some reason) and a uniquely British holiday is right around the corner. Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night, is celebrated on Nov. 5 to commemorate the failed attempt to blow up the House of Parliament in 1605.

The good news: fireworks are pretty. The bad news: fireworks are not authorized on the installation or in off-base military housing. Oh and the bonfire, that's not allowed either. It doesn't go over well with the fire department when they have to respond to a back yard that's looking like California in the middle of a dry summer.

Like many parts of the U.S., various levels of local county and city governments support controlled events that safe guard the public and still enable them to share in a cultural event. A quick check in the local community news papers will yield a volume of local events with games, vendors, food and activities leading up to the lighting of the bonfire and accompanying fireworks display. They are getting geared up for this and you're invited.

It can be tempting; fireworks are easily available in local stores, just a few coins and a short reach away. But it's called temptation for a reason; it's usually not in your best interest.

Here's the safety bit, turn away now if you don't like data. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (they're involved in other things than the flu) had this to say: in 2007, eleven people died and an estimated 9,800 people were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained from fireworks.

Who is most at risk for fireworks-related injuries? If you're a parent you should know that one out of every three people injured was a child under 15. About three times as many males were injured as females (is there a message here?). Individuals under twenty sustained 47 percent of all injuries from fireworks (sounds like a message to me).

What types of fireworks are associated with most injuries? Firecrackers were associated with the greatest number of estimated 1,300 injuries. Sparklers accounted for one-third of the injuries to children less than 5 years of age. There were a 1,000 injuries associated with sparklers and 800 associated with rockets.

What kinds of injuries occur? Between June 22 and July 22, 2007, the most often injured body parts are the hands with 2,300 injuries, followed by 1,500 injuries to eyes, and 1,400 injuries to the head, face and ear.

More than half of the injuries were burns. Burns were the most common injury to all body parts except the eyes and head areas, where contusions, lacerations and foreign objects in the eye occurred more frequently. Fireworks can be associated with blindness, third degree burns, and permanent scarring. An estimated 5 percent of fireworks-related injuries treated in emergency departments required hospitalization. Fireworks can also cause life-threatening residential and motor vehicle fires.

I've tried to take a light hearted approach, mixing humor with the warnings and realities of using an explosive, and make no mistake explosives are what fireworks are. Nov. 6 is a Friday; let us start the weekend off not recovering from burns.