Fireworks have always been connected with the celebration of America’s Fourth of July. However, fireworks can cause severe injuries to thousands of individuals every year. They are very dangerous to life and limb and therefore federal government categorizes them as dangerous substances which is under a special law known as Federal Hazardous  Substances Act.

Kinds of Injuries

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been an estimated 7,000 individuals who were treated in hospital emergency rooms for fireworks-associated injuries in 2008. Most of these injuries involved the eyes, ears, hands, and legs.

Fireworks have the ability to kills people who light them and even those bystanders who just watch them.

Some common injuries that individuals can acquire from fireworks are as follows:

• Loss of limbs, including hands, forearms, and feet; and digits such as fingers and toes
• Broken bones and ripped ligaments
• Burns of first, second, and third degrees
• Impaired vision or permanent blindness
• Permanent scarring

Dangers of Fireworks

Gunpowder which is an explosive substance is the main ingredient in almost all kinds of fireworks and this ingredient that makes people suffer from injuries in the form of burn-related injuries.

However, explosive fireworks are just one of the many types that can harm people. Sparklers which the parents consider to be safe for children have reports that sparklers injured children below five years old. A comprehensive study about fireworks injuries revealed that sparklers have been responsible for 7% of all injuries that sustained, and hardly two-thirds of all these sparkler injuries harmed children ranging from five years old and below.

US Consumer Product Safety Commission or CPSC discovered that in 2006, there were approximately 1,000 children were recorded injured by sparklers alone within four weeks before and after July 4. Many people are unaware that the heat produced by sparklers can reach as much as 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is classified as extreme hot temperature that can bring severe burns and can also burn clothing.

Teenagers were reported to have been injured by fireworks more than any other age cluster.

CPSC have estimated 7,000 people were harmed due to fireworks related injuries in 2008. More than half of these injuries were burns and injuries have involved the eyes, hands, and legs. Teenagers, ranging from 15 years old to 19 years old had the highest per capita injury rate among all age clusters.

Medical Medication and Recovery from Fireworks Injuries

Treatment for burns which includes plastic and reconstructive surgery can help treat and recover from fireworks injuries. Fireworks victims can suffer serious scarring and even disfigurement.

Amputation of a limb, loss of hearing and vision, or loss of a finger or toe can be a part of medication for injured fireworks victims.

Physical injury is just one of the fireworks-related negative experiences. Mental shock that fireworks victims suffered are greater than in any physical damage they have suffered. A Dutch study in 2005 declared that the victims of fireworks explosion suffered significant mental health-related experiences, including somatic symptoms such as sleeping problems, anxieties, depression, and feelings of insufficiency because of their incapacities brought about by the fireworks related incidence.

Fireworks Injuries and Your Legal Rights

The state and federal law have controlled the sale and use of fireworks.

If you or any of your family members suffered from fireworks-associated injuries, you may be given compensation for the existing and future expenses, aside from some special legal damages.

Here are some of the legal issues that the lawyer can discuss with you:

• If you and any of your family member may be entitled to compensation for the present and future medical and treatment expenses;
• If you or any of your family member can claim lost wages from work, and other personal expenses as a consequence of firework explosions; and
• If fireworks injuries may provide you and any of your family member to claim damages for the pain and suffering experienced.

Some Safety Tips

Because fireworks are explosives and combustible, they must be used with extreme caution. Older children must be closely watched but it is good to disallow younger children from playing with fireworks which includes sparklers.