Hospitals not treating abnormally high number of fireworks victims

Hospitals are not busy at the moment with people who were wounded by fireworks, and only occasionally need to treat someone with those types of injuries. Several hospitals were contacted by ANP, with representatives explaining the situation there.

There was a nationwide fireworks ban during the last two New Year's periods. Hospitals were very busy with coronavirus patients at that time, and the ban was supposed to help prevent an overload of patients. This year will be the first time since the 2019-2020 turn of the new year that fireworks are allowed to be bought and sold. Officially people are only allowed to buy them from Thursday, and only allowed to set them off between 6 p.m. on December 31 and 2 a.m. on January 1. In practice, that time frame is difficult to enforce.

The burn victim center in Beverwijk has treated eleven people in the last few days, all children that were wounded by fireworks. "The amount is no different from the last few years."

The OLVG in Amsterdam has treated three fireworks victims in the last few days. According to the hospital, New Year's parties and alcohol usage lead to more wounded than the fireworks, and more urgent care visits. In the last New Year's, the hospitality industry had to deal with restrictions. That led to a more significant reduction than the firework ban, according to the OLVG. "It's just that the firework injuries lead to heavier and longer damage."

At the Haaglanden Medical Center in the Hague, the number of people with fireworks injuries is "less than a handful; we see no difference compared to the last few years."

The Haga hospital in the Hague has seen no new fireworks patients in the last few days. The Groene Hart hospital in Gouda said, "It is very quiet in our case when it comes to firework wounds; we see no difference with the last few years." Similar reports came from the Alrijne hospital in Leiden, and the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital.

A spokesperson there said they have "actually hardly seen people with wounds from fireworks, no serious cases in any case. This is about comparable with the last couple of years."

Many hospitals have not seen a fireworks victim to date. This list includes Gelderse Vallei (Ede), Dijklander (Hoorn en Purmerend), Diakonessenhuis (Utrecht), Sint Jans Gasthuis (Weert), St. Anna (Geldrop), Elisabeth-TweeSteden (Tilburg), VieCuri (Venlo), Reinier de Graaf (Delft), ZorgSaam (Terneuzen), Tjongerschans (Heerenveen), Catharina (Eindhoven), Isala (Zwolle and Meppel), Bravis (Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal), Slingeland (Doetinchem) and the Beatrix Ziekenhuis (Gorinchem).

Other hospitals will deliver a summary after the turn of the new year. This includes the Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis (Den Bosch), Amphia (Breda), Bernhoven (Uden), Streekziekenhuis Koningin Beatrix (Winterswijk), Martini (Groningen), Gelre (Apeldoorn and Zutphen), Albert Schweitzer (Dordrecht) and the Ikazia (Rotterdam),