PHILADELPHIA(KYW Newsradio) — Fireworks are a big part of Fourth of July celebrations, and as the holiday approaches, physicians at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children remind families that fireworks pose significant risks—especially for children and young adults.
Dr. Lauren Carr, a pediatric medicine attending physician at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, has seen her fair share of firework-related injuries over the years.
"It's not uncommon to see burns. We can also see blast injuries from being too close to exploding fireworks, injuries to the eyes," she said.
She said some of the most severe injuries have been patients who held on to powerful firecrackers too long like M80s.
"So he had a pretty catastrophic injury. He lost a lot of his fingers. It's really tragic to deal with, but the reality is that these things happen, so we have to do what we can to prevent them,” she said.
Dr. Carr said parents often don’t realize that sparklers can be dangerous too.
"They can actually burn almost up to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. They can be hot enough to burn metal. If you think about what they can do to metal, you need to be really, really careful, especially around young kids," she said.
Dr. Carr urges parents to explore safer alternatives to celebrate the Fourth of July, including glow sticks, confetti poppers and bubble wands.
