The Dutch association for trauma surgery NVT register 90 fireworks injuries this New Year's, five fewer than last year. The 90 patients include 32 children, NU.nl reports.
firework injuries
Jan 1 '19 10:00
The Eye Hospital in Rotterdam treated eight people with fireworks injuries over New Year's. About half of the injuries caused permanent damage, the hospital announced, NU.nl reports.
The number of victims is about the same as last New Year's, though the injuries are somewhat more serious than in previous years, doctor Tjeerd de Faber said to the newspaper. The youngest victim is 15 years old.
"The most injuries were caused by legal fireworks. Half of the victims were bystanders and were hit by flying fireworks", Faber said.
Dec 13 '18 15:10
Nearly all the people who were injured by fireworks last New Year's were boys of an average age of 15 years, Erasmus MC reports on the basis of 63 victims admitted to 12 hospitals in the southwest of the Netherlands over New Year's. Most of the victims were injured by firecrackers, AD reports.
The hospitals collected data from 54 of the patients, including the type of injury, how it happened and the treatment. Almost half of the injured were bystanders and 22 percent were hurt by illegal fireworks. 50 of the 54 injuries were caused by firecrackers.
Mar 29 '18 12:10
It seems unlikely that a plan to ban firecrackers before New Year's will be implemented. A majority in parliament is against the plan, doubting how effective it will be in reducing the number of fireworks incidents in the Netherlands every New Year's, NOS reports after speaking with sources around the government.
Mar 28 '18 08:19
The Dutch government plans to ban firecrackers before the end of the year, in an effort to make New Year's safer. Firework sellers will also be obliged to give their customers safety goggles and stable firing tubes for rockets, RTL Nieuws reports based in information from insiders in The Hague.
The government is taking this measure after the Dutch Safety Board advised that crackers and rockets be banned, because they cause the most injuries and damage during New Year's.
Jan 5 '18 07:59
A total of 434 people were treated for fireworks related injuries at the emergency rooms of Dutch hospitals over New Year's, a decrease of 8 percent compared to the year before. The number of victims under te age of 15 increased from 99 last year to 119 this year, according to a joint study by VeiligheidNL and broadcaster NOS.
Jan 3 '18 08:27
Trauma surgeons treated 95 patients with firework injuries over New Year's, including 40 children. "The total number of victims increased by more than a quarter compared to last year", the Dutch association for trauma surgeons NVT said to ANP.
Nearly a third of the victims needed surgery immediately or a day later. About 30 percent sustained permanent damage, including 15 victims under the age of 16. A 14-year-old lost a hand, and a 13-year-old boy lost two fingers.
Jan 1 '18 10:54
New Year's celebrations with fireworks in the Netherlands generally go hand-in-hand with dozens of firework related injuries, and this year was no exception. The Eye Hospital in Rotterdam already admitted eight people with a total of 10 injured eyes. And dozens of people were admitted to hospital with burns and other firework related injuries.
Oct 25 '17 09:26
The foundation for society and safety SMV wants to ban individuals lighting fireworks over New Year's. The use of New Year's fireworks must only take place within controlled events in professional fireworks shows, SMV director Ingrid de Jong said in the Telegraaf on Wednesday.
Jan 6 '17 11:30
The police will not launch a new investigation into the death of Johan de Lange from Meppel. The 54-year-old man died in hospital three days after a firework exploded in his face over New Year's. According to the police, interviews with witnesses showed that De Lange lit the firework himself and was careless, AD reports.
De Lange sustained a head injury when a firework he lit himself exploded near his face. It seems that he lit the firework, stepped back and then went closer again when the firework did not go off. It exploded in his face. He died in hospital 3.5 days later.
Jan 4 '17 08:19
A total of 473 people were treated for firework injuries in the nearly 90 emergency departments in Dutch hospitals over New Year's, according to research done by NOS and VeiligheidNL. That is slightly less than the 480 people treated for fireworks injuries last year.
The decrease in fireworks injuries was much smaller this year than in the previous two years. In both 2015 and 2016 there was a 14 percent decrease, according to the broadcaster.
Jan 2 '17 09:20
Dutch authorities are increasingly concerned about dangerous fireworks used to usher in the New Year.
"Experience show that more and more often extremely dangerous fireworks are lit", Hague Mayor Jozias van Aartsen said in a press statement, according to the Volkskrant.
He calls on all involved to not wait until autumn to start the fireworks discussion in politics and society. "The damage and injuries caused by these dangerous fireworks are no longer proportional to the entertainment they provide", the Hague mayor said.
Dec 29 '16 16:00
The vast majority of people in the Netherlands have no idea what to do to give first aid if someone's eye is hurt by a firework, according to the Red Cross. The aid organization launched a website with the most important thing to do with different firework injuries until professional help can be reached.
According to the Red Cross, 77 percent of the population do not know how to give first aid for eye injuries caused by fireworks. And only 13 percent gave the correct answer on a detailed follow up question on the subject.
Dec 27 '16 07:57
The Dutch police want parents to be more alert in checking their children and their children's friends for illegal fireworks, Ad Nieuwdorp, fireworks expert at the National Police, said to AD. He called parents "naive" when it comes to dangerous fireworks.
"A cobra is just a grenade and totally not comparable to the strikers and astronauts they themselves lit as a teenager" Nieuwdorp said to the newspaper. He added that a legal soft banger going off in a hand will leave a child with burns, an illegal banger wil blow the hand off.
Jan 2 '15 11:29
Dozens of people were injured by fireworks over New Year's.
Dec 31 '14 12:13
There has already been problems with fireworks in the run-up to New Year's Eve. A man from Zwolle was seriously injured on his hands and face when he was making fireworks. Eleven other people have also been hurt by fireworks. The complaint site Vuurwerkoverlast.nl has already received more than 44 thousand complaints.
