Louisiana medical experts urge safety with Fourth of July fireworks

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Fireworks are popular this time of year, but they are also dangerous.

Moving New Orleans Forward Anchor LBJ spoke with Lakeview Hospital’s ER Dr. Charles Muntan about the dangers and what precautions you should take.

With the Fourth of July days away, Muntan says he sees people on their worst day, especially this time of year, when there are injuries as a result of fireworks.

What kind of injuries?

“So, unfortunately, the Safety Commission tells us there’s about 10,000 annual injuries, firework related. And of course, Fourth of July is a big one. New Year’s Eve is another big one. Typically for fireworks the big injuries are hands, fingers and eyes,” said Muntan.

How does that generally happen?

“I highly recommend that when you’re shooting fireworks that you’re not drinking. But lots of times people are drinking and not paying attention and they’re holding the fireworks and they explode in their hand. These are devastating injuries when it’s blowing up in your hand. People are losing fingers, having to be admitted and have hand surgery. It’s pretty bad,” said Muntan.

Also, there is a danger in exploding fireworks inside of containers because they can burst, which can cause eye injuries.

“And so, if you are deciding to do fireworks yourself and you’ve got stuff on the ground, you really need to be about 35 feet away. If you have some of the larger aerial that are going to shoot way up, they really recommend 150 feet,” said Mantan.

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