{"id":58784,"date":"2025-07-02T12:36:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T19:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?p=58784"},"modified":"2025-07-02T13:28:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:28:06","slug":"fireworks-safety-on-the-fourth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/news\/fireworks-safety-on-the-fourth\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay Safe, Celebrate Smart &amp; Leave Fireworks to the Professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article\">\n\t<header class=\"header\">\n\t\t<span class=\"type\"><\/span>\t\t<h1>Stay Safe, Celebrate Smart &amp; Leave Fireworks to the Professionals<\/h1>\t\t<time>July 2, 2025<\/time>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div id=\"block_0d03a74a38a1271ccde83b1cf370d893\" class=\"shs-block block-news-article entry-content\">\n\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>As Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day with dazzling fireworks and festive gatherings, Samaritan\u2019s emergency department leaders are urging caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Fourth of July holiday is one of the busiest times for us,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/patients-visitors\/find-a-doctor\/mcmann-ashley-1023465895\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"provider\" data-id=\"7618\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ashley McMann, MD,<\/a> Trauma Services medical director at <a href=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/find-a-location\/good-samaritan-regional-medical-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"location\" data-id=\"5301\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center<\/a>. \u201cWe see extensive burns and injuries to hands, faces, ears and eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2024, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported nearly 15,000 people received emergency treatment for firework-related injuries \u2014 a 52% increase from the previous year. The most frequently injured body parts are hands and fingers (36%), head, face and ears (22%), and eyes (16%). Burns are the most common injury, making up 37% of all emergency department visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe misuse or malfunction of fireworks is often the reported cause of the injury,\u201d said Katie Hennick, Trauma Services manager at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. \u201cEven sparklers, which many people consider to be safe, can burn at temperatures comparable to a welding torch and hot enough to melt some metals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Firework Safety Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To keep your celebration safe and injury-free, follow these tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Attend public displays instead of lighting your own.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Buy state fire marshal-approved fireworks from a licensed fireworks stand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do not try to re-light or pick up fireworks that did not fully ignite.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep a kid-free zone and don\u2019t allow children to handle fireworks or sparklers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use an extendable lighter to light one firework at a time and never aim them at people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid alcohol and drugs while handling fireworks as they increase the risk of injury.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dispose of fireworks by soaking them in water overnight before discarding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to Seek Medical Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing when to seek medical attention for a firework-related injury can make a critical difference in recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf someone suffers a large burn, an eye injury or any blast-related trauma, they should seek emergency care immediately,\u201d Dr. McMann said. \u201cEven what looks like a minor injury can become serious very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Samaritan\u2019s emergency departments, located at <a href=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/locations\/hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">all five hospitals<\/a>, are always open. Call 911 in cases of life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<aside>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Firework-Safety-CO.jpg\" class=\"attachment-cta size-cta wp-post-image\" alt=\"A stick figure lights fireworks with a match. A common cause of emergency room visits on the Fourth of July are fireworks.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Firework-Safety-CO.jpg 360w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Firework-Safety-CO-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Firework-Safety-CO-120x100.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t<\/aside>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day with dazzling fireworks, Samaritan\u2019s emergency department leaders urges caution with these tips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":58785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_shs_workflow_notes":"","_shs_exclude_from_navigation":false,"_shs_promote_article_on_blogs":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[641,738,739],"news-topics":[494,293],"news-types":[272],"services":[265],"specialty":[31,60],"class_list":["post-58784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-emergency-department","tag-fireworks","tag-trauma","news-topics-education","news-topics-wellness","news-types-news","services-walk-in-same-day-care","specialty-emergency-medicine","specialty-trauma-surgery"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58784"},{"taxonomy":"news-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topics?post=58784"},{"taxonomy":"news-types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-types?post=58784"},{"taxonomy":"services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services?post=58784"},{"taxonomy":"specialty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/specialty?post=58784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}