Wednesday, January 1, 2014 - 14:44
46 eye injuries from fireworks accidents
Eight people sustained eye injuries to the point where they lost the sight in one eye, due to accidents with fireworks. One of the victims lost an eye, it's not clear yet it that will be the fate of the other victims as well. So far 46 eye injuries have been reported, but the number is expected to go up in the next few days, reported Eye Hospital Rotterdam today on behalf of the Dutch Ophthalmic Association (NOG).At least 16 fireworks casualties with eye injuries were brought in overnight. One third of the injuries was so severe, the damage is permanent, meaning people have poor sight or went completely blind. At least three patients underwent emergency surgery on new year's morning in Rotterdam.
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Bobjgalindo
Wikimedia commons 50 percent of the victims were bystanders and 50 percent fell victim to fireworks they set off themselves, according to NOG. The association pleads for a ban on consumer fireworks and favors professionally organized fireworks shows. It remained calm until midnight, but after midnight to 00:30, one after the other came in with eye injuries,' said Tjeerd de Faber, eye doctor on duty in the Eye Hospital Rotterdam. 'The only bright side is that this year there was another drop in the number of children with severe eye injuries,' reported de Faber. 'In Rotterdam we have not seen any minors so severely injured that they lose sight in an eye or lose the eye altogether.' According to de Faber this decrease is a result of to good education in schools and through the use of fireworks glasses. Faber speaks of an "outdated tradition" when he talks about the fireworks around the New Year. 'Dutch ophthalmologists have had enough. We have been calling for a ban on consumer fireworks for about six years now, but politicians in The Hague ignore the problem.' 'In a war zone you duck when you hear a loud bang, contrary to fireworks where you turn toward the bang to watch it. Eyes are the most vulnerable area of the body, especially if they are unprotected.' No people were admitted with burns from fireworks in the burn center in Beverwijk during New Year's Eve, 'but that only happens when a large area of skin is actually burned,' explained a spokesperson. The Red Cross Hospital, to which the burn center is associated, treated eight fireworks victims. Two were severely injured, one had a hand injury, another sustained an eye injury.
![[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"26943","attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-12153","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"225","alt":"Penetrating_eye_injury"}}]]](/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Penetrating_eye_injury_0.jpg){kind=link}
Bobjgalindo
Wikimedia commons 50 percent of the victims were bystanders and 50 percent fell victim to fireworks they set off themselves, according to NOG. The association pleads for a ban on consumer fireworks and favors professionally organized fireworks shows. It remained calm until midnight, but after midnight to 00:30, one after the other came in with eye injuries,' said Tjeerd de Faber, eye doctor on duty in the Eye Hospital Rotterdam. 'The only bright side is that this year there was another drop in the number of children with severe eye injuries,' reported de Faber. 'In Rotterdam we have not seen any minors so severely injured that they lose sight in an eye or lose the eye altogether.' According to de Faber this decrease is a result of to good education in schools and through the use of fireworks glasses. Faber speaks of an "outdated tradition" when he talks about the fireworks around the New Year. 'Dutch ophthalmologists have had enough. We have been calling for a ban on consumer fireworks for about six years now, but politicians in The Hague ignore the problem.' 'In a war zone you duck when you hear a loud bang, contrary to fireworks where you turn toward the bang to watch it. Eyes are the most vulnerable area of the body, especially if they are unprotected.' No people were admitted with burns from fireworks in the burn center in Beverwijk during New Year's Eve, 'but that only happens when a large area of skin is actually burned,' explained a spokesperson. The Red Cross Hospital, to which the burn center is associated, treated eight fireworks victims. Two were severely injured, one had a hand injury, another sustained an eye injury.