Opinion: Keep fireworks at bay

A bill that would dramatically expand Georgia’s fireworks law is being considered by the General Assembly. On behalf of the Georgia Physicians Coalition Against Dangerous Fireworks, representing over 10,400 physicians in our state, we urge legislators to oppose House Bill 110, which will surely lead to many more injuries (and fires) as a result of more dangerous fireworks.

While some try to minimize the dangers of the full range of fireworks, the fact remains they pose considerable risk of injury to children, adolescents and even adults.

Georgia currently has a sound, conservative fireworks law which appropriately limits the types of fireworks that can be sold in our state and bans the most dangerous types — the kind HB 110 would permit. Our current fireworks law has minimized the injury and harm more dangerous fireworks can do to our children. Changing the law would needlessly send scores of children and teens to hospital emergency rooms.

Each year in the U.S., nearly 11,400 people are treated in ERs due to fireworks injuries. More than 40 percent of those injured are children younger than 15. Twenty-one percent of fireworks injuries involve the eyes, resulting in permanent blindness in one of every three victims. Of the nearly 4,600 children treated in hospital emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries, the hands (40 percent) and face (20 percent) are the body parts most often injured.

Beyond medical and related costs directly and indirectly attributable to fireworks injuries, fireworks cause significant property damage. And what would seem like just common sense, one study concluded that “states that ban most consumer fireworks have significantly lower rates of fireworks-related injuries and fires.”

Moreover, a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 15 percent of fireworks injuries required hospitalization or a transfer for further care. This is more than twice the rate for all other unintentional injuries. This means fireworks injuries are more severe than other unintentional injuries normally treated in the ER.

As physicians, we hold the health and safety of our patients — the citizens of Georgia — as our highest obligation. Georgia’s current fireworks law is conservative in what is permitted, and thus we do not experience high levels of injuries to our citizens. However, drastically expanding Georgia’s current fireworks law to permit the most dangerous kinds will result in one sure thing: More people — young children, adolescents and even adults — will be injured by them, whether by burns or injuries to their face, eyes or hands.