On this national holiday, surgeons are on the verge of war. Over all the injured hangs the specter of amputation, of one hand in particular.
On the occasion of the national holiday, the French Society of Orthopedic and Traumatological Surgery (SOFCOT) has decided to alert so that the festivities do not turn into nightmares.
Indeed, in a press release published a few days ago, the professional society, whose mission is to improve patient safety and information, recalls that there are “two peaks in the frequency of injuries from firecrackers or fireworks: the night of the New Year’s Eve and that of the National Day ”.
Surgeons on the war footing
A few hours before the first projectile launches, the emergency orthopedic surgery services would therefore be “on a war footing”. “This scourge of public health is well analyzed. The hands and eyes are the organs most affected. Those affected are the youngest, and the cost of disability in these segments of the population is enormous. Hand injuries are complex because they are multi-tissue: bones and soft parts (tendons, muscles, vessels, nerves and skin). They pose a technical challenge to the possibilities of surgical repair despite the enormous progress of this surgery. The difficulties are amplified by the multiplicity of tissue destructive agents involved: thermal burn, chemical burn, superinfection ”, write these professionals.
“On all these hands victims of firecrackers or fireworks hovers the specter of united or multi-digital amputations”, they worry..
The resulting “immense” disability rates
They add that in addition to the duration of specialized treatment imposed by these injuries, “the resulting disability rates are immense, especially since they compromise almost the entire professional life, often barely started”.
At the origin of these wasted lives, often a misuse of firecrackers or defective products.
So, faced with these dangers, SOFCOT asks that “better supervision of users and stricter regulations for the marketing with labeling of these products be put into effect to limit the damage to this festive tradition”. “In the name of the precautionary principle alone,” concludes the learned society.
6 deaths from firecrackers since 2000
As a reminder, on New Year’s Eve 2012, firecrackers had resulted in the death of a 20-year-old and another 24 in Alsace. Both had been wounded in the head by a mortar whose ignition had malfunctioned. In all, 6 people have lost their lives to firecrackers in France since 2000.
To these figures, we must obviously add those of the very many injured. The hand surgery departments counted at least 20 injured on January 1, 2013, and for July 14, 2012, there had been more than 30 injured, in Île-de-France alone.
Firecrackers must bear the CE mark to comply with European standards. These distinguish 4 categories of so-called “entertainment” fireworks. Category 1 firecrackers and fireworks are prohibited for children under 12 years old. Those in categories 2 and 3 are prohibited for children under 18. Those in category 4 are reserved for professionals. The classification is specified on the packaging.
Finally, during exceptional periods, such as the New Year, the legislation differs according to the departments and prefectures. In Paris, all fireworks products are prohibited for sale and use during the end of the year celebrations.
On the other hand, in the North, categories ranging from 2 to 4 are totally prohibited for sale, but the less dangerous is authorized. This does not prevent the inhabitants from owning them, since the border with Belgium is close, and there, they are authorized.
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