Even as the administration has issued strict orders regarding sale of only ‘ Green crackers’ and limited the time of bursting of crackers for only two hours on Deepawali the chances of adherence of the orders are remote.
The bursting of crackers during Deepawali not just adversely affects the environment as noise and sound pollution level increased several notches above the normal level but it also results in a spurt in the number of burn- related cases.
The medical experts opine that parents should be vigilant and compulsorily accompany their children during bursting of crackers on the day. It is a commonly observed phenomenon that on the day of Diwali, the cracker induced medical emergency cases are reported in big numbers in all the hospitals and children constitute a major percentage of such cases. The Burns and reconstructive surgery expert Dr Kush Aeron said that one should wear full sleeved cotton clothes while bursting crackers and children below ten years of age should not be allowed to burst them. He also suggested that a long incense stick should be used to light the crackers so that a safe distance is maintained. He said that maximum numbers of burn cases are reported from Anar (sparklers) as children tend to lean over them to ignite them and many a times the sparkles hit their faces or it bursts immediately. Dr Aeron added that in case of burn, toothpaste, ghee, haldi should not be applied and cold water should be poured immediately if any burn injury is caused and the person should be rushed to the nearest medical facility. The hospitals also receive many cases of road accidents induced by the firecrackers which the medical experts believe could be reduced if the crackers are burst in a large open space under vigilant eyes of senior members of the society. Injury to eye is the most common form of damage caused by the careless bursting of crackers.
The Head of Department (HoD) of Ophthalmology of the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital here, Dr Sushil Ojha that the children suffer firecracker injury of different kinds like burn, open globe, ruptured globe and intraocular foreign body. “If possible avoid powerful noisy firecrackers, never go and see any firecracker if it has not blasted, never burn fire crackers in a glass bottle or pot or inside the dust or from hand directly. Use paper for burning firecrackers, so that one can have enough time to run away.
Last advice is that even if with all precautions injuries happen, then immediately rush to hospital for the specialist consultation and never ever treat injury at home,’’ he said.
Saturday, 14 November 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
